An estimated P404.02 billion in foreign visitor receipts for the first 10 months of 2023 has been recorded in the Philippines following the over 4.63 million international travels this year so far.

This was reported by Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco as she showcased the country’s tourism gains and recovery efforts post-pandemic during the 2023 Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) on Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, California, where she joined the economic team of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

The amount disclosed by Frasco is around 190 percent higher compared to the USD2.47 billion or P138.46 billion in estimated visitor receipts recorded last year.
“We have received over 4.63 million international visitors which constitutes 96 percent of our entire year’s target, contributing over 7 billion US dollars to our economy,” said Frasco.

Along with this, the secretary also noted that the country’s economic managers have manifested that tourism is the second top economic driver for the Philippines in the first half of 2023.

“The Department of Tourism marks 50 years of bringing the world’s attention to the immense beauty of our country, where tourism is a unifying for good, and has emerged as one of the strongest pillars of our economy post-pandemic,” Frasco said.

“As we usher in this golden era of tourism, the work of our President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has been to rally the entire nation, including the public and the private sector, from the national to the local governments, across the entire tourism value chain, to articulate that tourism is a priority,” she added.

Frasco also shared how the goal of transforming the Philippines into a tourism powerhouse in Asia is being materialized by the DOT, and as infrastructure investments are prioritized through the Marcos Administration’s Build Better More Program during the panel discussion of the country’s economic managers.

“We’ve engaged in a collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Highways for the purpose of continuing the tourism road infrastructure program, and as a result of that, over 158 kilometers of tourism roads have been constructed or rehabilitated this year, with more to come in 2024 and in succeeding years,” Frasco said.

DOT is also collaborating with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) not only for hard infrastructure investments but more importantly, for soft infrastructure or human capital development to improve connectivity and tourist convenience. This includes the “Filipinization” of the country’s airports and seaports, starting with the enhancement of the Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

“We have trained frontline tourism workers in our airports and seaports in the Filipino Brand of Service of Excellence. This program, as a whole, has trained over 111,000 Filipino tourism workers across the tourism value chain,” she said.

The DOT has also initiated the building of initial 10 tourist rest areas (TRA) in strategic locations across the country, with 18 more to come to enhance the overall tourist experience.

The Philippines is also expected to build five cruise terminals in the coming year, a project that the DOT actively supports under the auspices of the DOTr and the Philippine Ports Authority