Joey Bondoc

This week, Colliers Research provides insights on the Philippine Statistics Authority reporting that the share of tourism to the country’s economy in 2021 reached 5.2%, up from the 5.1% in 2020, due to more relaxed travel restrictions and improved Covid-19 vaccination rates. Furthermore, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to develop more ecozones, which will be pilot-tested in the Caraga Region. According to PEZA, about 12 million hectares of government land need to be tapped for agro-industrial and aquamarine ecozones to ensure stable food supply.

The Philippines is one of the prime emerging data-centre markets in Southeast Asia. The country saw investments in the sector reach USD298 million (PHP15.5 billion) in 2021. The growing demand for these facilities will only increase, given the continued rise of e-commerce, proliferation of cloud computing technologies, and need for 5G connectivity, among many other factors.

This week, Colliers Research provides insights on a BPO company looking add more employees in its Iloilo office. According to Colliers, the city is quickly becoming a viable BPO destination, what with its huge pool of talent and healthy supply of office space. Furthermore, data released by IATA showed that demand for air travel in April 2022 rose by 79% compared to the same period of last year. This surge in bookings bodes well for the Philippine tourism industry, which has seen a gradual recovery. Data from Department of Tourism show that foreign arrivals reached 517,500 from February to May 2022, a significant improvement from about 40,000 arrivals recorded in the same in 2021.