MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. this week directed his Cabinet to strengthen tourism by improving infrastructure, as he cited Singapore, Thailand, and Hawaii as examples, Malacañang said on Wednesday. 

During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Marcos "noted how Singapore fared in the tourism sector even with limited natural resources," the Office of the Press Secretary said in a press release. 

“It can be done. We just have to support the plan to develop all of these enabling environment – the policy, conditions, and infrastructure,” Marcos, who was in COVID-19 isolation and attended the meeting virtually, was quoted as saying by the release.

Marcos added that tourists should experience an “ease of getting here, getting around, arranging for tours, getting drivers… finding a hotel," said the Office of the Press Secretary. 

It said the President also wanted to improve healthcare facilities in major tourist destinations, citing arrangements in Hawaii and Thailand.

"[Sa] beach, maraming police and everything… So, if anything happens along that stretch, meron silang tatakbuhan kaagad. The lifeguards know exactly where to bring them,” he said. 

(On the beach, there are many police officers and everything. So if anything happens along that stretch, they could be brought somewhere.) 

“That is supported by the local industry. Toka-toka sila (they have their own roles), to keep a doctor there, to keep a nurse there," he said.

Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said Singapore "really mastered" the practice of giving tourists an easy time from when they arrive and up to the time they leave.

“Certainly, to benchmark their (Singapore's) policies in this regard would be the direction that we would take per your instructions,” Frasco told Marcos, according to the Office of the Press Secretary.

“Many measures could be improved as far as policy regulations, both on the national and local level, and proper coordination – to be able to focus on the overall tourist experience from the time that he arrives to the point of entry to the time that he gets to his point of destination,” she said.

Frasco earlier said that she hoped to give all provinces in the Philippines an equal opportunity to promote their tourist sites.

The DOT Secretary said she would hold a “listening tour” across the country to discuss rehabilitation efforts for the tourism industry greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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