The president of the country’s biggest travel group said that the Philippines easily lost $400 million in foregone revenues last year due to lack of hotel rooms and flights.

Jose Clemente III, president of Philippine Travel Agencies Association said the clubs’ members cannot accommodate bookings for package tours because rooms were short and air seats limited in favorite destinations.

The Philippines could have attracted 500,000 more tourists, last year, he said, which on average spends $800 per visit.

The PTAA is holding its 14th Travel Tour Expo at the SM Megamall on Feb. 9 to 11 to promote inbound and outbound tourism.

Clemente said due to the shortages, travelling to and touring the Philippines is now up to 15 percent more expensive than competitor countries in the region since it has become a sellers’ market.

Clemente, who is president of Rajah Tours, said the Department of Tourism estimated that tourist arrivals in 2006 reached 3 million, surpassing the 2.6-million target for the period.

But he said the Philippines could have easily achieved 3.5 million if we had the accommodation.

Marciano Ragaza, PTAA chairman, said the development of infrastructure such as airports and roads to traditional new destinations is very slow that hoteliers are reluctant to invest in additional capacity. Maxed out areas include Boracay and even Cebu.

Exploring new destinations like Surigao, Davao and Camarines Sur in addition to the 15 main destinations is also hampered by accessibility.

Ragaza said the Philippines also is not able to tap the potential of Japanese and European tourists due limited airline operations.

For Japanese tourists, known to be big spenders, it is cheaper for them to go to Hawaii and Guam.

According to Ragaza, travel and tourism in the Philippines no longer has pronounced peak and low seasons the past two years as tourists come in droves throughout the year, even during the monsoon season. This has also pushed the average occupancy rate through the year to 70 to 80 percent.

At the same time, Ragaza laments that the Philippines does not have thousand-room hotels that Hong Kong and Thailand do. The biggest hotels here include Philippine Plaza and Shangri-La which have about 700 rooms each.

"The Philippines has become an expensive destination because it is now marginally sellers market so suppliers can dictate the prices. We might be pricing ourselves out of competition," Clemente said.

But on a positive note, the group notes a shift in the attitude of local tourists who prefer to explore the Philippines first rather than go abroad.

The PTAA also said the number of Russian tourists, and more European travellers from Scandinavia, Sweden, Finland and Denmark visiting the country is increasing.

In this year’s expo, the PTAA eyes to attract 75,000 visitors from 66,000 last year.

Ragaza also said the PTAA hopes to increase its sales of travel products including affordable tourism packages at the expo from last year P207 million. (Irma Isip)