The Department of Tourism (DOT) strongly advocates faster development of the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) and the New Clark City to further boost the recovery of the country’s tourism industry.
At the first Central Luzon Tourism Investment Summit and Business Exchange (CLTISBEX) Hybrid Edition held recently at Hilton Clark Sun Valley Resort, the DOT, in collaboration with the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) and the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development (SCAD), showcased how CFZ and the New Clark City may be positioned as premier tourism hubs.
The scheme involves showcasing Clark as a modern sustainable aerotropolis and a preferred MICE (Meetings, lncentives, Conferences, Exhibits) destination, and the New Clark City as an ideal destination for sports tourism in the Asia-Pacific region.
DOT Central Luzon Regional Director Caroline Uy said in a statement that “through the help of the private sector, the goal is to transform the Clark Freeport Zone into a preferred business and tourism destination in the Asia Pacific region and enable investors to find there long-term economic returns.”
Clark is strategically located in Pampanga where it could be easily accessed by the Philippines’ major foreign tourist markets like China, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.
A total of 35 foreign and local investors from the Philippines (5), China (25), Singapore (2), Japan (1), Taiwan (1), and United Arab Emirates (1) participated in the summit. The event concluded with a total of P127 million investments lead which were mostly generated during the Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings among 77 buyers and sellers.
As of December 31, 2021 Clark was already home to some 1,153 companies which are also referred to as locators. These ventures provided opportunities to 121,341 professionals and workers inside the freeport zone which originally employed only 20,000 workers when it initially opened.
In terms of exports,
CFZ has since then attracted P265 billion in total investments and generated exports worth $5.40 billion or over P270 billion. This performance is seen to generate more gains to the industry, especially now that the DOT also positions Clark as a MICE destination.
Uy noted that as a MICE venue, CFZ offers 80 convention /meeting 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.