PH Is World’s 4th Fastest-Growing Economy for 2021

At the Route Asia 2022 held last June 6-8, 2022 in the Da Nang International Exhibition Fair Center in Vietnam, it was noted that PH travel and tourism are big contributors to the GDP last 2021. 

During the Panel Discussion, Undersecretary Woodrow C. Maquiling Jr of the Department of Tourism (DOT) said “despite the travel restrictions caused by Covid-19, Philippine tourism saw some significant recovery contributing 10.4 percent to GDP in 2021—thanks to our people-centered initiatives which aimed, first and foremost, to keep our tourism workers safe and sustain our MSMEs,”. 

Undersecretary Maquiling was the head of the delegation consisting of 14 heads and representatives from the government and private sector. 

The Undersecretary stated that “It is essential that we recover in tourism because it translates to national recovery. With direct, indirect, and induced effects, we have achieved as much as 22.5 percent of tourism’s contribution to the country’s GDP pre-pandemic,” while touching on the pre-pandemic contribution of tourism to the Philippine economy. 

In the forum, Undersecretary Maquiling spoke about the DOT’s pandemic plans which included the mass vaccination of workers from the tourism industry, giving out loans to small businesses, and investing in human capital as important steps in the tourism industry’s recovery. 

In the past five years, the Philippines added more air tickets for tourists coming from other Asian countries such as China, Macau, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan. 

From 477,152, airline ticket capacity has increased to 653, 744. 

The Philippines hosted the Routes Asia back in 2016 at the SMX Convention Center in Metro Manila. This 2016 event was attended by an estimated 1,000 local and foreign guests. The DOT annually sends representatives which consist of airport managers, aviation suppliers, policymakers, and destination representatives. 

Source: Philippine News Agency