Marcos banks on ‘revenge travel’ for ‘great rebound’ of Philippine tourism
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in his second State of the Nation Address on Monday expressed optimism over the “great rebound” of the Philippines’ tourism sector.
He particularly cited “revenge travel,” a term used for leisure travel that follows a period of being unable to travel, as a leverage that would propel the country’s tourism.
“Our tourism has always been a reliable pillar of our economic growth through the years, providing livelihood to more than five million of our citizens. Because of the reopening of the economy, and the phenomenon of ‘revenge travel’, this sector is headed for a great rebound,” the president said in his speech.
Revenge travel once again became a buzzword after several countries reopened their respective borders, jumpstarting post-COVID-19 pandemic travel.
Meanwhile, in his speech, Marcos recognized the contribution of Philippine tourism to the Philippine economy.
He cited that the country has so far recorded three million international visitors which is equivalent to the 62% of 4.8 million target this year.
Tourism arrivals, receipts surge
As of July 19, the Philippines has reached its 3 million foreign visitor arrivals mark.
The Department of Tourism reported that there were a total of 3,000,079 international visitor arrivals from January 1 to July 19, 2023.
It said that 91.36% or 2,740,802 of these are foreign tourists, while the remaining 8.64% or 259,277 are returning overseas Filipinos.
The country also posted a 502.02% growth in tourism revenue as of June 30 after the inbound tourism receipts rose to P212.5 billion from P35 billion in the same period last year.
South Korea emerged as the top tourist market source so far, contributing 24.72% or 741,658 tourists, followed by the United States of America with 550,569 tourists (18.35%).
Australia, Japan and Canada also made up the top five source markets of foreign arrivals with 146,062; 143,222 and 132,018 inbound tourists, respectively.
Because of these developments, Marcos said the country must continue to nurture the services sector which included the tourism industries.
Marcos also mentioned inter-model connectivity as one of his administration priorities, mentioning that the roads, bridges and mass transport systems will be connected to tourism sites.
This was among the seven-point agenda of the DOT under Tourism Secretary Cristina Frasco.
In a statement after the SONA, Frasco expressed gratitude to the president for highlighting the crucial role that tourism plays in the country’s economic growth.
“The President’s ‘Whole-of-Nation’ approach to development we take as an affirmation of his administration’s thrust towards strengthened tourism governance between and among all stakeholders of the tourism industry,” Frasco said.
She is also elated by the president’s vow to boost connectivity within the country, especially in tourism destinations.
“As an industry that banks and thrives on the scale of infrastructure development, we are elated to know the President’s continuing commitment to connect ‘all prospective sites of economic development noting that this will spur tourism development countrywide, and consequently, create more livelihood opportunities for Filipinos through tourism.,” Frasco said.
For Frasco, the breaching of the three-million mark of the tourism arrival projection for 2023 is just a preview of “the bright prospects we can expect from the tourism industry under the Marcos administration."
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