The Philippines may be included on the list of must-see countries this year, but as much as the country should market itself as a top tourist destination, it must also learn about the wants and needs of its tourists.
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said getting to know who the tourists are and what they want in their vacation is key to unlocking the country’s full tourism potential.
Pernia said this requires profiling the country’s tourists, including what they are looking for to make their vacation or business-related trips to the Philippines memorable and fruitful.
Essence of stats
“What are the types of things that tourists are looking for? Are they looking for beaches? Are they interested in beaches? Are they interested in museums, historical sites, geography? Are they looking for food: typical and food specific to the country? Are they looking for adventure? Are they looking for a sleazy type of entertainment?” Pernia said.
“We need to find out what the tastes of tourists are, so that we can supply the demand part in the tourism industry. We don’t need to supply all of them but we can supply what we have in strengths [or] where we have comparative advantage,” he added.
Pernia said this is where accurate and timely tourism statistics will come in. One of the surveys conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is the Survey of Tourism Establishments in the Philippines (Step).
The Step is essential in the determination of the economic contribution of tourism to the Philippine economy. Data from this survey will serve as inputs in the compilation of Philippine Tourism Satellite Account (PTSA).
Pernia said through this satellite account, the contribution of tourism industry to the economy within the Philippine System of National Accounts can be quantified.
“Understanding and knowing the economic contribution of tourism will lead to an effective and efficient policy research, monitoring, analysis and development of the tourism industry in the country,” he added.
Earnings
Based on the 2014 Step, the country generated as much as P560.5 billion in gross revenues from tourists. Food-and-beverage service activities earned the most at P220.8 billion, or 39.4 percent of the total gross revenue.
Transport operators, as well as tour and travel agencies, booked gross revenues reaching P141.7 billion in 2014, followed by accommodation, with P113.4 billion; health and wellness, P45.7 billion; and other tourism activities, P38.9 billion.
Based on the PTSA 2015, tourism’s direct gross value added (TDGVA) to total GDP, the contribution of tourism to the economy was estimated at 8.2 percent in 2015.
The TDGVA amounted to P1.093 trillion in 2015, higher by 14.8 percent compared to previous year’s P952.2 billion.
The PSA explained that tourism cuts across different sectors of the economy, and the TDGVA serves as the indicator to measure the value added of different industries in relation to tourism activities of both inbound and domestic visitors in the country.
‘Aggressive marketing’
Inbound tourism expenditure, which refers to the expenditure of nonresident visitors (foreign visitors and Filipinos permanently residing abroad) within the Philippines, continued to increase as it grew by 10.7 percent in 2015, amounting to P306.6 billion, from P276.9 billion in 2014.
Compared to the country’s total exports, the share of inbound tourism expenditure was 8.2 percent. Inbound tourism ranked third among the biggest export items in 2015, after miscellaneous services, at 29.8 percent; and semiconductors, at 22.8 percent.
Pernia said that, while the Step and the PTSA provide critical data on tourism, more needs to be done. He said there is a need for the PSA and the Department of Tourism (DOT) to know what repels tourists, whether it is infrastructure constraints, security and/or other concerns.
Apart from these, Pernia said there is a need to be more aggressive in marketing the tourism industry. He recounted his recent visit to Peru during the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meetings last year, and how hotels in the South American country were giving away pamphlets featuring the must-see tourist sites, which is seldom done in the country.
Tourism summit
These are among the reasons behind the decision of the Duterte administration to hold a tourism summit that will involve not only the DOT but also government line agencies, such as the budget and trade departments.
“We should have a tourism summit, because the tourism industry involves not only the Department of Tourism, but also all the other departments. Infrastructure, for example. Security—we have [the] national security adviser. We also need to involve the budget aspect, because tourism promotion entails some budgetary proficiency. Trade and industry, because they look after the tourism establishments, and the other departments of the Executive branch of this government,” Pernia said.
Image credits: Plotnikov | Dreamstime.com
1 comment
Indeed, the answers to what the tourists want and need has to be
given priority attention. The natural beauties and diversity of Phil. environment , whole year summer temperature and multi culture population are advantages. The Visitors can be attracted by serving them their interests. For example, Asians have similar culture except for Sports , Musical & Conventions Events, Europeans are attracted to NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, weather and history (Spanish colonization and Dr. Jose Rizal). The Americans, I think, can only be linked with their history (Commonwealth & WWII liberation) and visiting the Roots (for Fil-Ams) because they have many vacation destinations within U.S.A., in nearby Canada and South American coastal communities. Hence, more new destinations should be offered to attract each market and of course meet their needs. Ease (infrastructure) and security in travelling. Services can easily be addressed to by massive training of thousands of young eager and friendly Filipinos. God bless!! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/20a356e95d44441f0b8d685f64026c81d587b16dd1e4344f3f04e57ade4886d0.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c25fc272b49d1ecf44f685e218c8d99d9811d356f8f130ec1251ca1b45827140.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d4b54a9607b22cd8bd120c412085d38d974d57e7ff5101bd6e22fa32dfa7aeea.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/394cb5a997aca3844d58dc8e08be062186c990d8d000061384a73c68047d7b0c.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/18c86698fd004ef12b8fdf5ef84d055b8af324d5551107cd34c8d052c278bd0b.jpg