Tourism sustains recovery, visitor arrivals reach 3.41m

By Othel V. Campos

INTERNATIONAL visitor arrivals reached 3.41 million as Aug. 13, representing 70.3 percent of the full-year target of 4.8 million, a Department of Tourism official said Monday.

DOT Undersecretary Mae Elaine Bathan also said foreign tourism receipts reached P285 billion in the first half of the year.

“These numbers show so much optimism for the department and for our country, and so much inspiration that we will be able to reach our target and reach pre-pandemic levels of 8 million in 2025,” Bathan said in the 2023 postSONA discussions held in Laoag City,

Pse Index Closing

Ilocos Norte.

“The country’s chief economists have identified tourism as the second biggest economic driver in the first half of the year,” she said.

The DOT expects to sustain the recovery with the roll-out of the National Tourism Development Plan, supported by the three key strategies of connectivity, equality and convenience in travel.

It said that in the first six months, the agency trained about 70,000 tourism workers on the Filipino brand of service excellence.

The DOT recorded over 5.35 million individuals employed in tourism-related industries in 2022, representing 93 percent of the industry’s employment figures in 2019 before the pandemic.

“The recovery rate, as compared to last year, has never been more promising. In 2022, gauging from the 2019 levels, we have a recovery rate of 35 percent for the month of February to December last year. Our recovery rate from January to July of this year, when compared to how we performed in 2019, is already at 66 or about 67 percent. These numbers will continue to

Vista Land logged 83% profit growth in first half grow as we have several projects and programs in our pipeline,” Bathan said.

VISTA Land & Lifescapes Inc. said Monday net income grew 83 percent in the first half to P5.8 billion from a year ago on aggressive project launches.

She said tourist rest areas around the country are expected to attract more tourists, including two in Northern Luzon―Pagudpud and Baguio.

The DOT is also launching by end of August a hotline and a call center where foreign and local visitors can contact the DOT for any tourist-related concern.

The DOT said that in collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Highways, it allocated at least P5 billion for tourism development, including P864 million for roads leading to tourist destinations in Region 1, P200 million in Region 2 and P130 million in the Cordillera Autonomous Region.

Vista Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenue reached P18.3 billion in the six-month period, up 8 percent year-on-year. Real estate revenue accounted for P8 billion, while rental income reached P7.9 billion.

The company also recognized a gain from the proceeds of insurance amounting to P1.8 billion. Minus one-off items, core net income amounted to P4.2 billion.

“We are pleased with our performance for the first semester of 2023 as we have sustained our growth trajectory for the year. We have been launching more projects this year compared to last year. These launches will form part of our huge project pipeline,” Vista Land chairman Manuel Villar said.

The company launched P24.3 billion worth of projects in the first half. Reservation sales amounted to P35.6 billion, or 12 percent higher than in same period last year. Jenniffer B. Austria

ICTSI’s income grew 7% to $313.8m in six months

INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services Inc. said Monday net income rose 7 percent in the first half from a year earlier on higher operating income.

The port operator said net income amounted to $313.80 million in the six-month period, up from $294.48 million a year ago. Secondquarter profit rose 5 percent to $159.19 million from $152.20 million.

“ICTSI’s diversified portfolio, operational discipline and the determined focus from our fantastic team around the world has enabled us to deliver another strong financial performance,” said ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr.

“We have a robust balance sheet and a highly cash generative business which looking ahead, will enable us to continue our strong track record of investing in our terminals to support future growth for the benefit of all our stakeholders,” he said.

Darwin G. Amojelar

AbaCore Capital Holdings earned P309m in first half

ABACORE Capital Holdings Inc., a company with interests in real estate, tourism, finance and energy, posted a net income of P308.8 million—or P0.0722 per share—in the first half of 2023. This was a reversal from a net loss of P15.5 million, or P0.0025 per share, in the same period last year.

BSP DONATION. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. (right of each photo) leads the turnover of donations to six health institutions at the BSP head office in Manila in line with its 30th year celebration on July 3, 2023. With Remolona in the photos are (clockwise) Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon, Lung Center of the Philippines executive director Dr. Vincent Balanag Jr., Philippine Children’s Medical Center donations committee chairperson Dr. Randy Urtula, Philippine General Hospital director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi and Philippine Heart Center executive director Dr. Joel Abanilla. The National Kidney and Transplant Institute is also among the beneficiaries this year.