Tourism is now a major driver of economic growth. What makes it important is that it generates employment in the places where the tourist destinations are, which means the provinces where jobs are most needed.
Tourist arrivals, according to the Department of Tourism, reached 4.27 million in 2012, up 9.07 percent from 3.92 million in 2011. Although the number of tourist arrivals fell short of the target of 4.6 million, the department is confident it will hit the five-million goal for 2013.
During the economic briefing last February, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said the tourism sector currently accounts for 7 percent of the country’s total output or Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The government hopes to increase the sector’s share in GDP to as high as 18 percent by 2016.
In terms of employment, the tourism industry provides jobs to more than 37 million Filipinos. Thus, raising the industry’s contribution to GDP also means increasing the number of jobs. The tourism department has been aggressively marketing the Philippines and its many attractive destinations in the international market.
I’m impressed by some local government units (LGUs), which are also conducting their own marketing campaigns, including the adoption of local tourism slogans, to attract visitors. For example, the province of Camarines Sur launched in 2011 its tourism slogan: “Camsun. Camsand. Camsur.” During that year, tourist arrivals in the province reportedly reached 1.9 million.
Neighboring Albay province is wooing visitors with its own sales pitch: “Indulge yourself in warm Albay!” Albay is already the top tourist drawer in the Bicol region, with 523,832 visitors in 2012, up 49 percent from 350,630 in 2011. The province, which was featured in the Internationale Tourismus Börse in Berlin, Germany, is targeting a 23 percent increase in tourist arrivals this year.
Up north, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee R. Marcos last month launched an aggressive marketing campaign with a new tourism brand: “Paoay Kumakaway!” And Ilocos Sur is also active in marketing itself as a major tourist destination, particularly for tourists who are looking at historical sites and cultural heritage.
I see a common denominator among these LGUs. They all have a market-oriented and aggressive leadership. They realize that while the national government markets the whole country as a tourist destination, each province must also market itself to attract visitors, both local and foreign.
It’s a good, productive, and friendly competition, and I believe it should be replicated in as many provinces and towns as possible, because the impact will not only be local but nationwide. Both local and foreign visitors stimulate local businesses, including small enterprises like food stalls and handicraft stores.
This means more jobs and more income for people, and consequently more revenues for the LGUs, which in turn means more resources to improve infrastructure and other facilities. It becomes an endless cycle of development that can only benefit each LGU and its people.
Increasing tourist arrivals will also create demand for more investments. In 2012, for instance, about 6,000 hotel rooms were added in Metro Manila alone. The tourism department estimates demand to reach 27,000 new hotel rooms by 2016, which will create thousands of new jobs.
We’re on the track in developing our tourism industry, and I’m glad that it’s becoming a joint effort between the national government and LGUs. But we should not be satisfied with the 4.2 million visitors we welcomed last year, or the five million we expect this year. We still have to catch up with our neighbors. Thailand, for instance, is looking at 24.5 million tourist arrivals this year, up from 21 million last year.
If we believe that the Philippines is as beautiful, if not more beautiful than any other country in the world, then we should continue in marketing our chain of islands aggressively, both among our own people and among other nationalities.


Source: Manila Bulletin - April 17, 2013