Tourism sector adds P1.93T to economy

THE PHILIPPINE tourism industry contributed 8.2 percent, or roughly P1.093 trillion, to the local economy last year, based on the latest results of the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts (PTSA).

This is 14.8 percent more than the P952 billion recorded in 2014, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a statement.

The contribution was measured in terms of tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) to total gross domestic product (GDP).

PTSA data also showed that inbound tourism expenditures continued to increase, growing by 10.7 percent to P306.6 billion in 2015 from P276.9 billion in 2014.

Inbound tourism expenditure refers to how much nonresident visitors (foreign visitors and Filipinos permanently residing abroad) spend while visiting the Philippines.

Compared to the country’s total exports, the share of inbound tourism expenditure was 8.2 percent.

It also ranked third among the biggest export items in 2015, after miscellaneous services at 29.8 percent and semiconductors at 22.8 percent.

Domestic tourism expenditure, which includes expenses of resident visitors within the country either as domestic trip or part of an international trip, similarly grew by 26.1 percent to P1.77 trillion last year from the P1.4 trillion in 2014.

This figure represents 18 percent of the household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) in 2015, the PSA said.

According to the PSA statement, employment in tourism-related industries reached some 5 million in 2015, up by 3.4 percent compared to 4.8 million in 2014.

The share of employment in tourism industries to total employment stood at 12.7 percent in 2015.

Meanwhile, data released by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) earlier this year showed that the Philippine travel and tourism industry contributed a total of P1.43 trillion to the local economy in 2015, equivalent to about 10.6 percent of the country’s GDP.

The industry’s total contribution—which reflects not only the economic activity of directly related industries, but also the wider effects from investments and the supply chain—is also expected to rise by 6.6 percent this year, and to P2.6 trillion by 2026, data from the WTTC’s Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2016 report showed.

The industry’s direct contribution—or the economic activity generated by industries such as hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services—meanwhile rose to P569 billion last year, equivalent to 4.2 percent of total GDP. Direct contribution is similarly expected to grow by 6 percent to P604 billion this year, and by 5.3 percent yearly to P1 trillion by 2026.