REM 144 CURRENT ISSUES - TOURISM

by Phil Anyana Lim, Jessica Pertubal, Kea Marie Pinuela

OVERVIEW
● INTRODUCTION
● HISTORICAL DATA & FIGURES
● IT’S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES
● GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION & THEIR
CONTRIBUTIONS
● IMPACT OF COVID-19 IN THE TOURISM
INDUSTRY
● POST PANDEMIC PROJECTIONS
● TOURISM AND REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY
● REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine
Archipelago, is one of the richest and most beautiful tropical
destinations on earth. In total, there are over 7,641 islands in the
archipelago, however, only around 2000 are inhabited.
Not only is our country rich in white sand beaches, magnificent coral
reefs and breathtaking landforms, the country is also flocked for its
wide variety of tasty cuisines influenced by Hispanic, Chinese,
Western and other Asian cultures.
Another factor why tourists are eager to constantly visit the country is
because as the third largest English-speaking country in the
world, most of the citizens can converse well in English which helps
them understand, participate and experience the country, its people
and culture in a deeper and more immersive way.
TOP 10 TOURIST
DESTINATIONS IN PH

1. Boracay
2. El Nido
3. Puerto Princesa
4. Siargao
5. Cebu
6. Bohol
7. Siquijor
8. Anilao, Batangas
9. Batanes
10. The Cordilleras
These are the top Philippine travel destinations, according to

Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat: (March 2021)

 HISTORICAL DATA AND FIGURES
Tourism is a trillion-dollar-and When did Tourism begin?
still growing global industry.
Spanish colonial era:
Records in the United Nations
● Traveling to foreign lands was very slow and expensive.
World Tourism Organization
show that in 2015 alone, 4.4%
● Travel mostly involved trading between towns and cities;
increase was seen in
common reason for travel: education, work, or going on religious
international tourist arrivals,
pilgrimage
reaching 1.18 billion travelers. ● Visiting churches and bathe in waterfalls right after.

Due to this global increase in During the commemoration of American Independence

travel, tourism became the 5th ● Americans opened the Manila hotel which quickly became and
most important industry in the still is one of the city’s most significant landmarks.
Philippines.
HISTORICAL DATA AND FIGURES
1937- The country’s first civilian airport was opened by Laurie Nielsen. (A New-Zealand-born businessman.)

1941- Philippine Airlines first flew.

1950- Modesto Farolan- started Philippine Tourists and Travel Association (PTTA); Consul general in Hawaii, and saw how Hawaii
stimulated tourism by the Hawaii Visitors Bureau

1956- The Government began to acknowledge the potential of tourism; the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry (BTTI) was set up.

1960- The government began keeping records of the number of visitors arriving in the country.

1973- Board was reorganized as Ministry of Tourism (Now Department of Tourism)

Fiesta Island Philippines-First campaign launched by 1994 by the DOT

During 1990s, Boracay became a popular international destination

Wow Philippines- 2001 campaign by DOT

Pilipinas Kay Ganda- 2010’s marketing campaign but pulled out after weeks it was launched.

It’s more fun in the Philippines- 2012 marketing campaign by the DOT under the leadership of previous secretary Ramon
Jimenez; it helped tourist arrivals rise to 4.2 million.
 Travel Services, 2006-2021 levels in USD billion, growth rates in percent

Tourism Receipts- are expenditures

by international inbound visitors,
including payments to national
carriers for international transport.
These receipts include any other
prepayment made for goods or services
received in the destination country.

In 2019, travel services reached USD

9.8 billion, representing a growth of
18.7 percent year- on -year. Of this,
USD 9.3 billion or 95% came from
tourism receipts. By 2020 however,
travel services declined by 81.7% to
USD 1.8 billion and by another 66.5%
in 2021 to only USD 600 million.
Tourism receipts comprised 90.6% of
the travel services in 2020.

Source: https://www.bsp.gov.ph
 Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA), 2000 to 2019 levels in PhP billion

Tourism Direct Gross Value Added-

part of gross value added generated by
tourism industries and other industries
of the economy that directly serve
visitors in response to internal tourism
consumption

From P460 billion (5.7% of GDP) in

2008 to P2.5 trillion (12.8% of GDP)
in 2019

Substantial improvements in the

tourism infrastructure such as
airports, hotels and land transport
during the aforementioned period
fueled this growth. The gross value
added of tourism industries (GVATI),
which includes all establishments in
tourism industries, amounted to P3.3.
trillion in 2019.

Source: https://www.bsp.gov.ph
 Geographic Distribution
Average age of tourists that comes to the
Philippines is 39 years old, majority of whom
are male travelers registering at about
59.25%, significantly edging female
travelers at 40.49%.

Inbound tourism of the tourism

expenditures of non-resident visitors
(including non-resident Overseas Filipinos) in
the Philippines recorded its highest level in
2019 at P600 billion, with a growth rate of
34.7 percent from 2018. This was equivalent
to 3.1% of GDP.

Most inbound travels in the country were

usually spent for holiday/leisure. Almost
half of the foreign non-resident tourists’
expenditures were for food, accommodation
and beverage services.

Source: https://www.dot.gov.ph
 Geographic Distribution
In 2019, the country
received 8.3 million
tourists (including
non-resident OFWs),

Top 5 countries where

the tourist arrivals are
from are: 1, Korea (2
million), China (1.7
million), USA (1.1
million), Japan (680
thousand), and Taiwan
(330 thousand).

Source: https://www.dot.gov.ph
 The Impact of COVID-19 in the tourism industry in the Philippines

Globally, international tourist arrivals fell by

74% in 2020

2020- “worst year of record” for travel.

This manifested into a loss of USD1.3
trillion receipts or 2 billion tourist arrivals
in 2020 which was more than 11 times the
loss recorded during the 2009 global
financial crisis.

Asia and the Pacific suffered the largest

drop in international arrivals at -84% followed
by Middle East and Africa (-75%), Europe
(-70%), and Americas (-69%).

Global tourism arrivals recovered slightly

with a 4% growth in 2021 compared to
2020. These figures were still 72% below
pre-pandemic levels.

Source: https://www.bsp.gov.ph
 Visitor Arrivals and Receipts, March 2020-December 2021 receipts in USD
million, arrivals in 1000s

In 2020, tourist arrivals declined

to 1.5 million from 8.3 million in
2019.

Travel receipts from 2020

amounted to only USD 1.6 billion
in 2020 from USD 9.3 billion in
2019.

This piercing development was

reflected in the 89%
year-on-year decline in tourist
arrivals in 2021 having only
received 160 thousand foreign
visitors from the 1.5 million
visitors in 2020.

Travel receipts in 2021 were only

USD 171 million, 89% lower
than USD 1.6 billion in 2020.

Source: https://www.bsp.gov.ph
 Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA), 2020 in PhP billion

The Tourism Direct

Gross Value Added
(TDVGA) rendered in
2020 was P973.3 billion
(5.4% of the GDP),
representing a decline
of 6.12% from the 2019
TDGVA (12.8% of GDP
during the year).

Source: https://www.bsp.gov.ph
Tourism and Real Estate Industry
Tourism is on the rise with the easing of foreign travel restrictions and new
infrastructure

With new infrastructure projects - including airports and seaports - Philippine tourist
destinations are now more accessible to these travelers. Travelers from North and East Asia,
especially the middle-class populations will be nearer to the Philippines via Clark
International Airport. Whereas the Mactan International Airport will bring the country
closer to Southern Asian countries.

According to LPC studies, the opening of 7 new airports in 2021 resulted in an increase of
16.7 million in annual passenger flight capacity. With this, the annual passenger capacity
could be increased 7 times - from 55 million passengers per year to 386 million passengers.

With the increasing consumer spending and tourism, return to onsite work, and
completion of large infrastructures, the Philippine Real Estate industry looks promising in
the next months.
Business ideas you can do if you have a property near the
tourist spots in the Philippines.
The value of your real estate property varies from its prime location.
The higher the demand, the higher the possibility that entrepreneurs
and people in business will take advantage of this opportunity to raise
the prices of these properties. Moreover, there are many businesses
near your property’s places of interest.

1. Staycation
2. Café
3. Souvenir Shop
4. Restaurants
5. Investment
Post-Pandemic Projections
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is optimistic on the
prospect of Philippines’ tourism industry recovery, projecting a promising
outlook in terms of economic growth and employment generation in the
next 10 years.

Looking ahead, the WTTC forecast an average annual growth rate of

6.7% over the next 10 years exceeding the country’s expected overall
economy average growth rate of just 5.6%. They also forecast
employment to grow annually by an average of 3% over the next 10
years, generating 2.9 million new jobs.
 Plans and Programs for Tourism Industry Recovery
Last August 31, 2022, new Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, unveiled the new projects and
convergence programs that the DOT intends to execute.

Tourist Service Rest
Areas
These are areas that will
serve travelers in need of
accommodation,informat
ion, safety, and security.
It will also have a
pasalubong center inside,
displaying our local
products, highlighting the
Filipino artistry.
Tourist Lifecycle App
Aside from serving as the DOT’s
needed data for tourism
intelligence, such as tourists’
spending and the length of stay in
a destination, the app will have a
tourist support feature and an
e-commerce platform that will
showcase Filipino products
“Super App” aims to connect
tourists to accredited tourism
establishments for
accommodation, food, shopping,
rides to accredited transportation,
tour operators, and tour guides.
Improvement of Land and
Sea Tourist Facilities
DOT shall incorporate distinct
Filipino brands in the country’s
gateways through design, furniture,
and uniform signages that will
guide tourists and passengers
regarding time and distance to
boarding gates, and shall actively
push for efficient service and
reduction of passenger waiting
time.
plans to put up a Tourist
Assistance Call Center and a
One-Stop-Shop where tourists
can get information and assistance
with their travel-related concerns.
Health and Security of
Visitors
The DOT already coordinated
with the Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG)
to continue the presence of police
under the TOPCOP (Tourist
Oriented Police for Community
Order and Protection) program.
DOT’s commits to ensure the
health of tourists through the
conduct of due diligence of
medical facilities in tourism
destinations.
Plans and Programs for Tourism Industry Recovery
BBM (Bisita Be My) Guest Program
Guest incentive system for OFWs
that the DOT shall launch this 2022 in
collaboration with relevant national
government agencies such as the
Department of Migrant Workers
(DMW).
Raffle prizes will be offered to OFWs
that bring guests to the Philippines
such as travel passports that they can
use to go across key destinations, get
stamps and claim prizes at the airport.
Discounts with accredited
establishments will also be provided.
Employment in Tourism-related Other DOT Programs
Industries
To address the country’s shortage of The DOT is also working on
tourism workforce, DOT entered a developing new regional tourism
Memorandum of Understanding circuits and cultural and heritage
(MOU) with the Department of Labor
hubs to give foreign and local tourists
and Employment last Aug 30 to
more choices in going around the
generate employment in the tourism
sector and allied industries. country.
DOT and DOLE will simultaneously
launch the “Trabaho, Turismo,
Asenso!” Philippine Tourism Job
Fair in Manila, Cebu, and Davao
from September 22 to 24.
Measures to Support the Tourism industry
● The DOT updated its Tourism Response and Recovery Plan (TRPP) with its main objective of
mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry. The TRPP recognizes “new normal”
measures on travel moving forward, with emphasis on sustained business operations,
appropriate infrastructure policy, enhanced marketing and market and product development,
and formulation of guidelines to ensure the health and safety of its stakeholders.

● The Philippines prioritized vaccination of tourism frontliners, employees of hotels and other
accommodation establishments to revive the tourism industry. As of February 10, 2022, about
92%of the country’s active tourism worker population have been inoculated. This is perceived to
gradually bring back jobs and promote tourism confidence.

● Green Lanes or Vaccinated Travel Lanes that aim to ease the restrictions to fully vaccinated
foreign visitors were also implemented by the country to further support the recovery of the tourism
industry.
References:
● https://guangzhoupcg.dfa.gov.ph/tourism-in-the-philippines
● http://experiencephilippines.org/about-the-philippines-department-of-tourism/
● https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Media_And_Research/Publications/EN22-02.pdf
● https://www.bworldonline.com/top-stories/2022/06/22/456578/philippine-tourism-industry-seen-to-reach-pre-pan
demic-levels-by-2024/
● http://www.tourism.gov.ph/tourism_dem_sup_pub.aspx
● https://www.psa.gov.ph
● https://beta.tourism.gov.ph/news_and_updates/frasco-lays-out-dot-plans-and-programs-for-industry-recovery-la
wmakers-bat-for-higher-dot-budget/
● https://tulay.ph/2017/02/21/viaje-how-tourism-developed-in-the-philippines/#:~:text=In%201956%2C%20the%2
0government%20began,visitors%20arriving%20in%20the%20country.
● https://databank.worldbank.org/metadataglossary/world-development-indicators/series/ST.INT.RCPT.XP.ZS#:~
:text=Long%20definition,received%20in%20the%20destination%20country.
● https://www.cosmo.ph/lifestyle/travel/best-philippine-travel-destinations-a1213-20210312
● https://www.weseektravel.com/islands-in-philippines-travel/#:~:text=The%20islands%20of%20the%20Philippin
es,only%20around%202000%20are%20inhabited.