Gov’t corners $5-B earnings from tourist arrivals in ’15

Earnings generated from tourism activities were estimated to have reached $5 billion (roughly P240 billion) in 2015, up slightly by about 3 percent from $4.8 billion recorded the previous year.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed international tourist arrivals grew by almost 11 percent to 5.36 million last year, from the 4.83 million recorded in 2014. A big number of tourists came from Korea.

“The tourism industry marked a milestone in 2015 as arrivals surpassed the 5-millionth mark. The Philippines’ top source markets are from Northeast Asia, which accounted for 49.18 percent of the total arrivals,” the DOT said.

Employment in tourism characteristic industries was estimated at 4.99 million in 2015, slightly higher than the 4.76 million reached in 2014.

The share of employment in tourism industries to the total job market in the country stood at 12.7 percent last year. This means one in every 10 jobs in the economy.

The DOT said the ongoing promotion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as a single tourism destination was seen to provide significant benefits for local enterprises.

Tourism Undersecretary Benito C. Bengzon Jr., however, conceded promoting all 10 members of the Asean as one destination might not be that feasible given the region’s archipelagic nature.

“But getting the industry to package tours covering three or more countries and involving land, sea and air transport could be the most exciting and attractive value proposition a tourist could get,” Bengzon said.

He said integration through tourism would push the recently launched Asean Economic Community forward “through the required points of connectivity that should be set up while generating businesses and incomes in the process and creating economies of scale.”

He said the Asean tourism integration couldn’t have begun at a better time given the current low fuel cost regime that would boost travel to and from the region.

Fuel, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), accounted for 28 percent of the airline industry’s operating costs.  Recently, IATA reported a 36-percent decline in fuel prices to an average Brent crude oil price of $65 a barrel from $101.4 a barrel in 2014.