CEBU, Philippines — Over 34 million Filipinos employed in the country’s tourism industry by 2028.
This is the target of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, as the Philippines envision itself as becoming a tourism powerhouse in Asia around that year.
“A few years down the road, by 2028, we foresee that tourism would have been able to employ a total of over 34 million Filipinos in the country. After all, the end all and be all of the development of our tourism industry must be for the benefit of our countrymen,” she said.
She made the declaration during a panel discussion at the 10th Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF) in Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
“With our President’s whole-of-nation approach towards tourism development, with an eye on sustainability, we envision that this will allow the Philippines to occupy a primary position in Asia, especially considering that what we wish to do is not only to further develop our nature and beach destinations–we are, after all, currently the world’s leading beach and dive destination– but also to approach a multidimensional tourism component to our development,” Frasco said.
She mentioned that the Philippines is home to one of the longest coastlines in the world as well as 70 to 80 percent of the Earth’s biodiversity. The country is also one of the most mega-biodiverse in the world and home to 10 percent of the world’s marine protected area.
Frasco said the country is also capitalizing on its tourism potential because of its heritage, culture, and the work of its indigenous peoples.
“Overall, it is this comprehensive approach towards tourism development that we foresee would allow our country to have a sustainable tourism development in time to come,” she said.
She also emphasized sustainability in the tourism industry as being “an absolute necessity and the driving force of development.”
“As early as 2009, with the passage of the law that created the Tourism Act, sustainable tourism was identified by our government as being integral to our socio-economic development and, therefore, that has been the guiding force towards the programs and plans for the development of our tourism industry,” Frasco said.
This, she said, is enshrined in the approved National Tourism Development Plan 2023-2028, which is the country’s tourism blueprint made from a sustainability standpoint.
“(W)e look at it from a developmental framework, identifying seven objectives for tourism development, chief of which is infrastructure,” Frasco said.
“We take a long hard look at what are the essential pillars to ensure the long-term development of these destinations: basics, such as sewerage systems, water systems, waste management, and as well as the introduction of digitalization in the operations of tourism communities all over the country,” she further said.
That is why, she said, the Department of Tourism is launching an app called “Travel Philippines,” which allows tourists to directly connect with the country’s tourism destinations. — (FREEMAN)