DOT seeks upward revision of domestic tourism target

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) will meet with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) this month to discuss revisions in the country’s domestic tourist targets.

“The next move is to set a meeting with the Philippine Statistics Authority,” Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. said when asked about the revision of the domestic tourist target.

Under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2016-2022, the number of domestic tourists is targeted to reach 86 million by 2022.

The country has already surpassed this target as it registered a total of 111 million domestic tourists as of 2018.

Bengzon said the agency needs to meet with the PSA as it is the agency in-charge of administering the Household Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV) in the Philippine tourism satellite account (PSTA).

“Basically, it’s (HSDV) an instrument to capture that information through random sampling. So you are interviewed how many times did you visit? Where did you go? How much did you spend?,” Bengzon said.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat earlier said the domestic tourist and gross domestic product (GDP) contribution targets under the NTDP need to be revised.

As of 2018, the tourism sector’s GDP contribution already exceeded the 2022 target as it reached 12.7 percent at P2.2 trillion.

“It should be adjusted, but again, it’s a process. All sectors should be involved, because this was done even before President Duterte’s time, the targets. So we’ll talk to them (private sector) again,” Puyat said.

In August,Puyat convened the Tourism Coordinating Council (TCC), a 25-member agency body that serves as the coordinating body for national tourism development efforts, including the NTDP.

Among its members are the heads of concerned national agencies and government offices, DOT attached agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) representing the private sector.

Bengzon earlier emphasized that statistical data help the industry assess which areas it has made significant progress and which areas need further improvement.