PTA eyes travel loan program for GSIS, SSS members

Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) General Manager and CEO Robert Dean S. Barbers is proposing the creation of a travel loan program for government and private employees in a joint undertaking between PTA and GSIS and SSS, respectively.

The proposal is similar to the current character loan, which an ordinary employee normally avails.

However, instead of handing-out cash to the prospective borrower, availment shall be effected by issuance of a Letter of Authority (LOA) by the financing agency to any PTAowned and managed entity or Department of Tourism (DoT)-accredited hotel or resort.

Incorporating a “Bakasyon Travel Loan” as part of the products of GSIS and SSS will further spur domestic tourism. Moreover, it would also give employees the opportunity to visit towns and provinces of their origins. This will also be an avenue for them to see the tourist spots around the Philippines. The whole industry stands to benefit from this program. This would mean added receipts for the resorts and hotels all over the country and job generation for the unemployed.

“Like the Holiday economics and the RORO Nautical Highway of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the said travel loan is meant to make ordinary Filipinos, specifically the salaried workers, tourists in their own country. Employees numbering to about 25 million all over the country are a potential market for tourism,” Barbers said.

A technical working group was created by the Office of the General Manager of PTA to closely work with GSIS, SSS and other financing agencies for the implementation of the project.