Catering to Growing Number of Tourists
Central Luzon Establishes Wellness Association
PUBLISHED: JUNE 2009

To strengthen the health and wellness industry of Central Luzon, key government agencies, including the Department of Tourism (DOT), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Health (DOH), Technical Education and Skills and Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), recently formed the Spa Association of Central Luzon (SACLI).

The core group has formulated a wellness industry plan which covers activities on planning and advocacy, human resource development, research, and industry players development.

According to DOT III regional director Ronaldo Tiotuico, the development of the wellness industry is “very much needed to cater to the increasing number of tourists in the region,” since the tourism industry in the region is expected to boom with the development of the Disodado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, coupled with the major infrastructure projects such as the Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway Project (SCTEP).

It is estimated that 10% to 20% of the tourist and local market population may visit a wellness facility two to three times a year.  As it was, as of end-2005, the wellness industry had a total of P1 billion gross sales.