THE TOURISM Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) said it received over P20 billion worth of investment commitments in 2025.
“I think we already have more than P20 billion in investments committed to us (in) medical tourism and sports tourism,” TIEZA Chief Operating Officer Mark T. Lapid told reporters on the sidelines of Tourism Congress, Inc. National Conference on Wednesday.
Last year’s investment commitments are estimated to generate over 200,000 new jobs, he said.
“We’re trying to see investors… who want to invest in key tourism destinations for power, electricity, and water projects,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lapid said TIEZA will appeal to Congress to reverse its position on the proposed abolition of the travel tax.
“Maybe we can reconsider how we can restructure it,” he said. “The impact that it will create once we abolish it, based on local governments’ initiatives, will be huge also.”
TIEZA, which develops and operates tourism-related infrastructure, takes up half of the travel tax collections. Some 40% of collections go to the Commission on Higher Education, while the National Commission for Culture and the Arts receives 10%.
The House of Representatives in March approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to abolish the travel tax. Its counterpart measure is pending with a Senate committee.
If the government stops collecting travel tax, the funding gap will be covered by the national budget, Mr. Lapid said.
He said TIEZA has yet to see the impact of the Middle East crisis on travel tax collections.
“Our target for 2026, if there was no crisis, is about P10 plus billion in collections,” he said.
In 2025, travel tax collections hit P8.7 billion, an 11.65% increase. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
