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SECTOR THAT DELIVERS
Thus, the recovery of real TDGVA underscores the tourism sector’s resilience, adaptive capacity, and enduring importance to the Philippine economy. The inflation-adjusted rebound affirms that tourism is not merely experiencing a nominal or price-driven resurgence but is once again contributing meaningful, measurable economic value. By 2024, the sector has reestablished itself as a major pillar of national productive activity, supporting livelihoods, stimulating local economies, and reinforcing tourism’s central role in the country’s broader economic transformation.
PUSHING TOURISM FORWARD A local boatman strains to push a sailboat ashore in Boracay, one of the Philippines’ top tourist destinations. Domestic travel and private investments sustain the sector, yet PIDS notes that outdated laws, fragmented governance, and limited international competitiveness remain hurdles to long-term growth. JIAN HUANG | DREAMSTIME.COM Tourism Direct Gross Valuevalue Added (At(atConstant Prices,2000-2024) 2000-2024) Figure 9b. Tourism direct gross added constant prices,
PIDS PHILIPPINE TOURISM SECTORAL REVIEW (2000 TO 2025)
HILIPPINE tourism, long hailed as a pillar of national development, is struggling to regain its footing in the post-pandemic era. Despite robust domestic travel and renewed investor confidence, the sector remains constrained by outdated laws, symbolic “place-branding” bills, and fragmented governance.
Employment in Tourism Industries (2000-2024)
Figure 10. Employment in tourism industries (2000-2024)
Source: Authors’ computation based on PSA’s PTSA as of June 2025 release.
Source: Authors’ computation based on PSA’s PTSA as of June 2025 release.
As seen Yet in Figure 9b, TDGVA legal (at constant provides a clear aview of the real itself.” the Philippine ar- 2018 calprices) increase conceals qualitative economic output generated directly by tourism industries over time. The constant-price series chitecture remains “thin, uneven, decline. shows steady and broad-based growth throughout the 2010s, with the strongest contributions and outdated.” Most measures are “site-specoming from tourism-characteristic products, particularly shopping and retail, accommodation Thefood coreandframework, RA 9593 cific transport. or declaratory,” proclaiming services, beverage operations, and passenger TDGVA reached its highest or the Tourism 2009, continwaterfalls, caves, or towns ecopre-pandemic levelAct in of 2019 at PHP 2.45 trillion, underscoring tourism’s role as in driving ues to serve as the sector’s primary nationwide tourism parks or heritage villages. domestic economic activity and supporting employment prior to the pandemic.
enabling law more than fifteen
These acts rarely include funding
The significant decline TDGVA during to 2021 reflectsimplementing the direct impact ofagenborder years later. While it in established the 2020 provisions, closures, restrictions, andEnterthe temporary shutdown of accommodation,clauses, transport, Tourismmobility Infrastructure and cies, or sustainability recreation, and food service establishments. However, the recovery trajectory from 2022 to prise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and leaving sites dependent on limited 2024, with real TDGVA rising to PHP 1.87 trillion, signals a robust reactivation of tourism strengthened the Department budgets or competitive DOT industries. Importantly, this rebound is of not solelyLGU the result of inflation. A comparison with Tourism’s mandate, absence of to recover grants.faster due to elevated costs of goods, TDGVA in current prices,the which may appear a comprehensive update highlights Theirofchief utility, report services, fuel, and operations, highlights the importance examining realthe figures. The inflation-adjusted datacall confirm that the rebound represents true, substantive increasespubin real what the authors “policy stagconcludes, lies in short-term output, driven by rising visitor arrivals, revivedlicity. domestic mobility,has and become the restoration nation.” “Congress a fac-of operational across tourismas enterprises. Latercapacity measures—such the tory of place-branding acts, not a
A LOCAL guide waits as tourists dive to encounter a large whale shark beneath a small boat during a feeding session in Oslob, Cebu, April 1, 2014. Despite robust domestic travel and private investments, Philippine tourism still faces hurdles from outdated laws and fragmented governance, PIDS notes. WHITCOMBERD | DREAMSTIME.COM
This is the sobering conclusion of the government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) in its landmark review, “Philippine Tourism Sectoral Review (2000 to 2025): From Promise to Power—Accelerating the Philippines’ Tourism Transformation toward Sustainability, Competitiveness, and Inclusion,” authored by John Paolo R. Rivera, Marga Clarence P. Bolalin, and John Joseph S. Ocbina.
The report paints a picture of a sector caught between promise and paralysis: a resilient domestic market and strong private-sector investments on one hand, but outdated legal frameworks, fragmented governance, and weak international competitiveness on the other.
Outdated legal framework
TOURISM legislation “defines the rules of the game for how the sector grows, competes, and sustains
2019 amendment (RA 11262)
source of transformative tourism
major industries, tourism has not benefited from a second-generation policy framework,” the report notes.
from local realities. Local Tourism Development Plans are often drafted merely as compliance documents, with little26 alignment to the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP). National strategies are “largely topdown, with limited consultation of regional realities.” Tourism management is frequently personality-driven, with
The real growth in TDGVA through 2024 demonstrates that tourism industries have regained and the 2024 VAT-refund law (RA much of their pre-pandemic strength, supported reform.” by improved air and sea connectivity, the 12079)—were butmarkets, “largely gradual reopening useful of global and sustained domestic travel demand. The strong fiscal and transactional.” Fragmented governance performance of tourism-characteristic products, especially retail and accommodation, indicates that visitors once again these engagingstatin discretionary, experience-oriented a key “Takenaretogether, BEYOND legislation, spending, governance marker of sectoral health. The upward trend also highlights how tourism’s value chain has reutes lack a comprehensive modgaps persist. National tourism expanded, benefiting microenterprises, suppliers,plans transport operators, cultural ernization agenda… Unlike other often operate in communities, isolation and local governments.
The rise of “place-branding” laws
LEGISLATIVE activity has surged, with tourism-related bills in the House of Representatives quadrupling from 65 in the 15th Congress to 420 in the 19th. Yet this numeri-
PIDS PHILIPPINE TOURISM SECTORAL REVIEW (2000 TO 2025)
P
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
Source: PSA’s PTSA as of June 2025 release.
Source: PSA’s PTSA as of June 2025 release. Figure 10 presents trends in employment in tourism industries in the Philippines from 2000 to officers temporary contributions 2024. Over on this period, the sharecontracts of tourism-relatedSectoral employment to total employment generally replaced peaking after inelections, erasing THE Statistics increased, 2019 at 16.8%. That is, roughly 17 Philippine out of every 100 employedAuthorFilipinos worked in the tourism sector, industry’s a national institutional memory andunderscoring halting theity (PSA) significant reports role thatastourism’s employment (Espiritu and Lawas 2019; PHP2.35-trillion Caynila et al. 2022; Cervantes 2024). This long-term generator projects. Overlapping contribution to share declined sharply to 11.7% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, recovery mandates among DOT, DILG, and the economy in 2024 was powered began in subsequent years, with tourism employment rising to 13.8% by 2024, signaling a DENRrebound furtherasresult in inconsistent by six subsectors: steady travel restrictions eased and demand returned.
enforcement and accreditation.
• Shopping — the single larg-
Stakeholders stressed: est contributor, drivenfor by mall Among all tourism-related sectors, “Tourpassenger transport consistently accounted the largest share of employment, averaging 30%.from This reflectstourism, the centrality of land, air, and sea mobility ism products must graduate duty-free purchases, and in the Philippine tourism context. Miscellaneoussouvenirs. services ranked second at an average of PowerPoint to product.” 25.1%, while accommodation and food and beverage services followed closely services at 23%. Other • Accommodation — sectors such as retail trade in tourism goods (14.7%) and recreation, entertainment, and cultural Economic recovery: hotels, resorts, and homestays, services (6.2%) also contributed meaningfully. In contrast, travel agencies, tour operators, and Nominal real the smallest share at 1.1%, boosted by long-stay balikbayans. tour guides vs. represented likely due to digital disruption and the DESPITE governance flaws, tour• Food & Beverage growing preference for self-managed travel arrangements (TGM Research 2023).— restauism remains a major economic
rants, culinary tourism, and farm-
by inflation, and “real” recovery, adjusted for constant prices. Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA)—the official measure of tourism’s direct contribution to GDP—peaked at 12.9 percent in 2019, but stands at 8.9 percent in 2024, underscoring that real recovery remains gradual. Employment covers 13.8 percent of the workforce, projected to reach 14.1 million jobs in the next decade. Investments hit PHP 590.4 billion in 2024, showing strong private-sector confidence despite external shocks.
flights, ferries, land transfers, and ride-hailing. 27 • Entertainment & Recreation — theme parks, nightlife, cultural shows, and festivals. • Travel Agencies & Tour Operators — packaged tours, circuit planning, and inbound logistics. Domestic tourists spend heavily on shopping, food, and land transport, while international visitors allocate more to accommodation, air travel, and packaged tours. Balikbayans remain unique, spreading their spending across all categories due to longer stays.
From 2021 to report 2024, employment in miscellaneous services surpassed that in passenger driver. The distinguishes beto-table(27.5%) circuits. transport (25.5%). This shift maybuoyed reflect changing post-pandemic travel preferences, with tween “nominal” recovery, • Transportation — domestic
Continued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.6050 n JAPAN 0.3768 n UK 78.4428 n HK 7.5321 n CHINA 8.3231 n SINGAPORE 45.4584 n AUSTRALIA 38.7438 n EU 68.7026 n KOREA 0.0397 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.6255 Source: BSP (December 19, 2025)