Over 16 million Filipinos are currently employed in the tourism sector in the first quarter of 2024, the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported on Tuesday.

During the deliberations of the House Committee on Appropriations on the agency’s PHP3.394-billion budget for next year, DOT Secretary Christina Frasco said this figure includes both direct and indirect tourism employment.

“Tourism is one of the strongest pillars of the Philippines’ economy, driving exponential growth, generating revenue for small and medium enterprises, and providing employment for millions of Filipinos,” Frasco said.

She described the industry as an “economic powerhouse” for the country in 2023, as the combined domestic and international visitor receipts that entered the nation’s coffers exceeded PHP3.36 trillion, which translated to revenues for businesses, livelihoods, as well as tourism employment to those who “needed it the most”.

“These remarkable figures are also reflected in the growth rate of tourism in the country, marking the highest ever growth rate tourism has ever experienced at nearly 48 percent,” she said.

Frasco said tourism now contributes 8.6 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, adding the industry registered a trade surplus of over USD2.45 billion in travel services.

She further highlighted that the Philippine tourism industry surpassed all of the national tourism development plan’s baseline targets in 2023.

“These are indicators that matter the most, the contributions of tourism to job generation and the aspiration to achieve upper, middle income status under the administration of President Marcos,” Frasco said.

“We achieved this, because apart from the domestic and international tourist arrivals that have come into our country, we now have more products and destinations to offer. The result of which is a higher length of stay among our tourists and more spending along the circuits developed across various destinations in our regions,” she added.

Frasco cited the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) report indicating that the Philippines has the biggest domestic tourism market in Southeast Asia, which was valued at over PHP52 billion.

She said this underscores the strength of the domestic tourism market for Philippine tourism as an attractive pull factor in generating tourism investment.

Frasco cited the same WTTC report, which estimates that the Philippine tourism contributed USD78 billion to the country’s economy in 2023, making it the highest national output in Southeast Asia.

Enhancing overall tourism experience

In line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to enhance the overall tourism experience, Frasco said the DOT is set to construct 22 more tourist rest areas (TRAs) this year in addition to the 10 existing ones.

She said the TRA project was recently awarded by the GovMedia Conference & Awards 2024 of Singapore as the best tourism infrastructure of the year.

In ensuring tourists’ safety in the Philippines, Frasco said tourist first aid facilities in key tourist destinations will be constructed to provide emergency response with professionally trained healthcare personnel provided by the Department of Health and medical support for the same.

“These tourist first aid facilities will be built in La Union, Boracay, Siargao, Panglao Island in Bohol, and Palawan. This is certainly only the first of many,” she said.

Frasco said the DOT also trained over 219,000 individuals in the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence across all regions of the Philippines to uplift the quality of tourism services.

The DOT, in coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, also trained over 8,000 tourist police to further boost tourists’ safety. (PNA)