As measured by the share of Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA) to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the contribution of tourism industries to the Philippine economy was estimated at 12.7 percent in 2018. 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. The TDGVA amounted to PhP 2.2 trillion in 2018, higher by 14.3 percent compared to previous year’s record of PhP 1.9 trillion.

The TDGVA estimate is based on the latest results of the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts (PTSA) which also provides information on tourism expenditure and employment in 2018. The following are the other key results from PTSA:

• Inbound tourism expenditure, which refers to the expenditure of non-resident visitors (foreign visitors and Filipinos permanently residing abroad) within the Philippines, declined by 1.6 percent in 2018, amounting to PhP 441.4 billion from PhP 448.6 billion in 2017. Compared to the country’s total exports, the share of inbound tourism expenditure was 8.0 percent. Inbound tourism ranked third among the biggest export items in 2018, after miscellaneous services at 31.5 percent and semiconductors at 22.8 percent.

• Domestic tourism expenditure, which includes expenditure of resident visitors within the country either as domestic trip or part of an international trip, grew by 21.0 percent, from PhP 2.6 trillion in 2017 to PhP 3.2 trillion in 2018. Domestic tourism expenditure represents 24.9 percent of the household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) in 2018.

• Employment in tourism characteristic industries was estimated at 5.4 million in 2018, higher by 1.8 percent compared to 5.3 million in the previous year. Share of employment in tourism industries to total employment in the country was recorded at 13.0 percent in 2018.

The PTSA is compiled by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) based on the international recommendations for tourism statistics and tourism satellite accounts of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The PTSA tables are available at https://psa.gov.ph/tourism-satellite-accounts-press-releases

CLAIRE DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General