By TONY LOPEZ
At the groundbreaking for the Caticlan (Boracay) airport terminal on July 14, 2025, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. (Bongbong Marcos, BBM) had effusive words for Chair and CEO Ramon S. Ang, whose San Miguel Corporation is the operator for the airport of the country’s premier tourist destination after Manila.
SMC a partner
The CEO of SMC, BBM said, “is our very, very important partner, full partner with the government in nation building.”
SMC manages three of the country’s largest airports –the Manila International Airport (NAIA), with four to five terminals and being modernized to service 60 million passengers a year; the P735.654-billion Bulacan Airport now under construction since 2021 to service 100 million passengers, expandable to 200 million, a year; and the Caticlan (Boracay) airport which handled four million passengers last year and will increase to seven million by 2027.
400 airports needed
With its 7,600 islands, the Philippines right now needs 400 airports. It only has 90 airports, of which barely 23 are night-rated, and only eight can service international flights adequately.
Yet, domestic air tourism is bursting at the seams. More than 60 million Filipinos travel by air domestically. BBM reckons tourism contributes 8% of GDP, the value of the economic production. With GDP at P28.5 trillion, 8% is a whopping P2.28 trillion. The Department of Tourism has a lower estimate of the tourism’s GDP share, P760 billion.
BBM senses the urgency of more airports, now. “We are very happy and we are all very excited that we are slowly putting together the building blocks of our policy of opening up our areas, tourist areas, our business areas to international travelers without having to go through the Manila Airport,” he said in Boracay. Marcos wants tourists to fly straight to domestic destinations like Boracay, instead of having to connect thru Manila.
Boracay terminal in 24 months
Accordingly, the President wants the Boracay airport terminal rushed and completed within 24 months.
The Philippines’ biggest road builder, SMC has committed to the tight deadline and so is its contractor, Megawide headed by CEO Edgar Saavedra. “We really need you to finish this (in) 24 months or even less than now,” he told construction mogul Saavedra. “You have no excuses,” the President said. “You have done even more complicated construction (projects) than this.”
Under Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, ten airports will be privatized, under public-private partnership, between now and 2028– Iloilo, Davao, Siargao, Laoag, Busuanga, Bicol, Tacloban, Bacolod-Silay, General Santos and Puerto Princesa.
Palawan, an archipelago, has 1,780 islands. Yet, Palawan has only three useful airports. Governor Pepito Alvarez once told me he needs at least 24 airports immediately to develop the province and boost tourism.
Compared with its ASEAN neighbors, Philippine foreign arrivals are in single digit—less than 7 million. In January-April 2025, our visitor arrivals were a measly 2.2 million, down 0.8% from a year ago, if Filipino balikbayans are included, and down 3.2% if purely foreign arrivals are counted.
5.8% aviation growth
“The demand for air travel is projected to grow by 5.8% in 2025, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK),” says the International Air Transport Association in its June 2025 report.
Asia-Pacific will be the fastest-growing region, with a 9% YoY increase, contributing 52% of the industry’s RPK growth in 2025. “This highlights the region’s economic momentum and the expansion of international travel,” says IATA. Europe places second, with an estimated growth of 6% YoY in RPK terms, contributing 28% of total growth in 2025.
Load factor
“Passenger load factor is expected to reach a record high this year at 84%, a 0.5 percentage point (ppt) improvement over 2024. Load factors should rise in all regions apart from North America and Latin America. Load factor is the percentage aircraft seats sold to passengers.
Reports IATA: “The 2025 developments come on the back of highs set in 2024, when all regions posted all-time records in origin-destination passenger traffic. The highest growth was recorded in Asia Pacific (+17.3% YoY) and Africa (+13.3% YoY).
“The Middle East grew by an impressive 9.5% YoY. Total traffic rose by 10.6% YoY, while ASK expanded by 8.8% YoY, leading to a remarkable rise in the load factor by 1.3 ppt, to a record-high level of 83.5%.”
There has been so much hype about the Philippines having paltry foreign tourism arrivals. Truth to tell, the Philippines does not need foreign tourists for the country’s tourism to boom. We have 60 million domestic air passengers.
In 2024, Singapore reports having hosted 16.52 million visitors. But the island state, which is smaller than our own Laguna Lake, has no domestic airline passengers.
All its flights are international. So compare our foreign arrivals of 5 million plus domestic air passengers of 60 million, we actually have 65 million tourists—3.6 times Singapore’s 16.52 million.
MOPC Grand Tourism Night
Meanwhile, bookings are heavy for the Manila Overseas Press Club’s “Grand Tourism Night” on Aug. 15, 2025, Friday, 6 to 9 p.m., at the New World Hotel grand ballroom, Makati.
The First Lady, Louise Araneta Marcos (LAM), has agreed to be the guest of honor and speaker, with the nation’s leading CEOs in attendance. She will give the handcrafted, Italy-made golden Bell of Excellence trophies to outstanding movers and shakers of tourism. Awardees include the biggest names in business and in tourism.
The MOPC Grand Tourism Awards recognize the doers and shakers in tourism. LAM’s presence lends elegance, glamor and enormous prestige to the event as well as luster to the awards, inspiring the awardees to ever higher goals of excellence and service.
Interested parties may call Dena, the MOPC Secretariat, 0920-204-9229.