The Department of Tourism (DoT) is banking on the development of the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) and the New Clark City in order to further boost the recovery of the country’s tourism industry.
The DoT, in collaboration with the Tourism Promotions Board, and the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development, showcased how CFZ and the New Clark City could be positioned as premier tourism hubs during the first Central Luzon Tourism Investment Summit and Business Exchange (CLTISBEX) Hybrid Edition held recently at Hilton Clark Sun Valley Resort.
They proposed CFZ as a modern sustainable aerotropolis and a preferred business events destination, while New Clark City could stand for an ideal destination for sports tourism in the Asia-Pacific region.
DoT 3 regional director, Caroline Uy, said: “Through the help of the private sector, the goal is to transform the CFZ into a preferred business and tourism destination in the Asia-Pacific region and enable investors to find long-term economic returns.”
CFZ is located in Pampanga, and can be easily accessed by the country’s major foreign tourist markets like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.
A total of 35 foreign and local investors from the Philippines, China, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and the UAE participated in the summit.
The event concluded with a total of 127 million pesos (US$2.4 million) investment leads which were mostly generated during the B2B meetings among 77 buyers and sellers.
As of December 31, 2021, CFZ is already home to some 1,153 companies that are also referred to as locators. These business ventures provided opportunities to a total of 121,341 professionals and workers inside the freeport zone which originally employed only 20,000 workers at the time of its opening.
For corporate groups, CFZ offers 80 convention halls, 3,648 hotel rooms, 126 dining facilities, and 45 tourism attractions such as Clark Safari, Clark Bike Path, Clark Museum and Theater, Aqua Planet, Clark International Speedway, and Dinosaurs Island.
In terms of exports, CFZ has since generated a total export of US$5.4 billion with a total investment of 265 billion pesos.
This announcement follows the recent opening of Clark International Airport’s new passenger terminal, which Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said will generate more gains to the industry, especially now that the DoT is also positioning CFZ as a business events destination.
