TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
The Department of Tourism (DOT) foresees a robust recovery for Philippines Tourism, underpinned by the encouraging figures in the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts (PTSA) for 2022, as compiled by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The Tourism Direct Gross Value Added share of tourism to the Philippine economy, as measured by the GDP, was estimated at 6.2 per cent for 2022. The TDGVA last year amounted to PHP 1.38 trillion, 36.9 per cent higher as compared with the PHP 1.00 trillion in 2021. Internal tourism expenditure, combining inbound and domestic tourism expenditure, saw a growth last year, tallying PHP 1.87 trillion in 2022, a 131.2 per cent growth from the PHP 810 billion in 2021.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco noted the DOT’s commitment to sustain last year’s gains through its seven-point agenda to be pursued by the Marco’s administration.
“We are elated by the figures enclosed in the 2022 Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts. We ascribe last year’s gains to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr., vision, which inspired the DOT, and all players making up the tourism value chain and allowed the Philippines to achieve greater heights,” Secretary Frasco said.
“As we continue to ride the wave of travel resurgence coming out of COVID, we in the DOT, acknowledge the initiatives to make the Philippine Tourism sustainable and resilient for the next several years,” she added.
The 2022 PTSA showed inbound tourism expenditure posted the growth out of the different forms of tourism expenditure, recording PHP 368.67 billion last year compared with PHP 27.63 billion in 2021. Inbound tourism expenditure, referring to the expenditure of non-resident visitors or those foreign and Filipinos permanently residing abroad, contributed 5.9 per cent to the total exports in 2022, compared to 0.6 per cent share in 2021.
Domestic tourism on the rise
With domestic tourism expenditure in 2022 reaching PHP 1.50 trillion, or a 92.3 per cent growth from the PHP 782.57 billion in 2021, she highlighted the importance of boosting the Philippines domestic tourism.
Domestic tourism expenditure, or expenditure of Philippine resident visitors during domestic trips or as part of their travel, contributed to 9.0 per cent to the household final consumption expenditure.
Among the DOT’s initiatives aimed at domestic tourism promotion are the North Luzon Travel Fair last year, Mindanao Travel Expo earlier this year, and the Central Philippines Travel Fair Expo on June 16, inviting travel and tourism stakeholders from Luzon, Mindanao, and the rest of Visayas to converge in Iloilo. Apart from existing tourism circuits in regions, the DOT launched the Philippine Experience: Heritage, Culture and Arts Caravans, a nationwide program in the Philippines highlighting emerging and lesser-known destinations, and featuring various tourism products such as pilgrimage tourism, heritage tourism, food tourism, wellness, and arts and local products of communities and micro, SMEs.
“One of our objectives is to be pursued under the Marcos administration is the maximization of domestic tourism as it has proven a very strong and reliable contributor to the economy. Through the Philippine Experience Program, our regional expos, fairs, and the like, we intend to generate tourism opportunities by giving our travel and tourism stakeholders opportunities to immerse themselves in other destinations and regions and to come up with tour packages that they can dovetail with their offerings,” she explained. She said more than 5 million Filipinos were employed in tourism-related industries in 2022 as against 4.9 million in 2021.
