International visitor arrivals reached 3.41 million as Aug. 13, representing 70.3 percent of the full-year target of 4.8 million, a Department of Tourism official said Monday.
DOT Undersecretary Mae Elaine Bathan also said foreign tourism receipts reached P285 billion in the first half of the year.
“These numbers show so much optimism for the department and for our country, and so much inspiration that we will be able to reach our target and reach pre-pandemic levels of 8 million in 2025,” Bathan said in the 2023 post-SONA discussions held in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.
“The country’s chief economists have identified tourism as the second biggest economic driver in the first half of the year,” she said.
The DOT expects to sustain the recovery with the roll-out of the National Tourism Development Plan, supported by the three key strategies of connectivity, equality and convenience in travel.
It said that in the first six months, the agency trained about 70,000 tourism workers on the Filipino brand of service excellence.
The DOT recorded over 5.35 million individuals employed in tourism-related industries in 2022, representing 93 percent of the industry’s employment figures in 2019 before the pandemic.
“The recovery rate, as compared to last year, has never been more promising. In 2022, gauging from the 2019 levels, we have a recovery rate of 35 percent for the month of February to December last year. Our recovery rate from January to July of this year, when compared to how we performed in 2019, is already at 66 or about 67 percent. These numbers will continue to grow as we have several projects and programs in our pipeline,” Bathan said.
She said tourist rest areas around the country are expected to attract more tourists, including two in Northern Luzon―Pagudpud and Baguio.
The DOT is also launching by end of August a hotline and a call center where foreign and local visitors can contact the DOT for any tourist-related concern.
The DOT said that in collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Highways, it allocated at least P5 billion for tourism development, including P864 million for roads leading to tourist destinations in Region 1, P200 million in Region 2 and P130 million in the Cordillera Autonomous Region.
Projects in the north would also receive P1.06 billion, including for the rehabilitation of typhoon-damaged cultural properties in Ilocos Norte and Abra.
“These and more are the projects that we foresee are very essential to ensure that as we prepare to breach the target and further increase the numbers for our tourist arrivals, our country is also ready to accept our foreigners with the best standards and of excellence for the tourism industry,” Bathan said.
She said the DOT was also proactively working withe Department o Transportation to further improve gateway access and increase flights to more destinations.