DOT upbeat on hitting tourist arrivals target

CEBU, Philippines — As the 2023 Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) kicked off at NUStar Resort at the South Road Properties yesterday in Cebu City, the Department of Tourism (DOT) expressed optimism it will hit its target of 4.4 million in tourist arrivals for this year.

The ongoing PHITEX is a return to a full-onsite setup, following the Covid-19 pandemic, with 19 countries joining in the event.

During the opening event, no less than DOT Secretary Christina Frasco announced that as of Sept. 19, the DOT has already recorded 3, 877,183 international arrivals, or 80.77 percent of the target.

DOT projected that if met, the target arrivals would result in an estimated revenue of P316.9 billion for the industry.

We are very hopeful that with the business exchanges that you will have today, and in the coming days, you as well will contribute greatly to the Philippine tourism landscape and the economy,  Frasco said.

She mentioned that so far, tourism is the second best economic driver of the country from Jan. to June this year, next only to high employment rate, and is followed by increase in investment registration activities and then by students being back in school.

Frasco also said that there is now an over 300 percent increase in flight frequencies in Cebu; 180 percent in Clark; 640 percent in Kalibo; 200 percent in Bohol; and 50 percent in Davao.

Meanwhile, Frasco had also expressed elation over the House of Representatives (HoR) swift approval of the proposed increase of DOT budget s during its plenary deliberations last Tuesday.

That, Frasco said, reflects the House s recognition of tourism as an essential economic pillar for our country.

We thank, as well, our tourism champion, Isabela Representative Faustino Inno  Dy, V. We assure the lower House of Congress that our budget will be utilized with utmost efficiency, transparency, and accountability, turning into reality President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. s vision of transforming the Philippines into a tourism powerhouse in Asia,  she said.

Frasco said that while the tourism industry has had a robust recovery  in the first year of the Marcos administration, there is still much to be done  to improve and increase competitiveness, especially on the aspects of infrastructure, connectivity, digitalization, and equalization of tourism development across the country .

To recall, Frasco had presented DOT s proposed 2024 budget amounting to P2.99 billion during the budget hearing by the HoR Committee on Appropriations.

The amount is significantly lower than the current budget of 3.7 billion, which prompted lawmakers to push for the increase in the budgets, noting the significant contribution of the tourism industry to the Philippine economy.

Dy was instrumental in the move.

While tourism has been identified by the President as one of the pillars of our economic recovery, it continues to receive one of the lowest budgets among the national agencies. In fact, it was reduced by about a billion pesos from last years budget, Dy said during the deliberation.

The Congressman from Isabela also argued that the Philippines neighbors have given utmost importance to their tourism sector, having recognized it as a major economic driver, by providing it with a budget that is double, if not triple of what DOT is getting.

Such meager budget does not parallel the milestone that the DOT has achieved thus far, and that in itself is an achievement or a remarkable feat, added Dy.

The move to increase DOT s 2024 budget was supported by OFW Partylist Representative Marissa Del Mar Magsino, during her interpellation.

The proposed budget for DOT for 2024 is only Php 2.604 billion, which is about a 24 percent decrease from its current budget for 2023 of Php 3.407 billion. This is a move backward and will not support the realization of the country s vision of a strong tourism industry. I, therefore, ask my dear colleagues to support not only the approval but for the rightful increase in the proposed budget of the DOT for 2024, Magsino had said.

In 2022 alone, the tourism industry s international and domestic visitor arrivals raked in tourism receipts amounting to Php 1.87 trillion. In the same year, the Philippines recorded 2.65 million international arrivals breaching the initial target of 1.7 million.

The approved budget will allow for the efficient and successful implementation of the department s programs, projects, and activities designed to provide long-term solutions to some of the most pressing challenges that confront our country s tourism industry, as summed up to three basic but crucial components of connectivity, convenience, and equality,  Frasco said.

The DOT is committed to utilizing the allotted resources judiciously with the benefit and well-being of the country as the most important concern,  she added.  — /RHM (FREEMAN)