During the same period 5.4 million jobs were created in the sector. These figures are a good sign of the industry's stable growth. The tourism sector managed to show positive results regarless the six-month closure of Boracay island, one of the country’s major tourist draws.
The main indicator of the value added of the tourism industry, the Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA), also grew 14.3% compared to 2017 and reached PHP2.2 trillion.
Similarly, the number of those employed in the tourism industry accounted to an estimated 5.4 million compared to the 5.3 million in the previous year.
It was mostly domestic tourists who drew the development of the sector in 2018. 110 million Filipinos travelled across the country, some 14.1% more than in 2017 when 96.4 million domestic travellers were recorded. These results well exceed the 89.2 million target that was set by the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) for 2022.
The domestic tourism expenditure in 2018 amounted to PHP3.2 trillion jumping up 21% compared to the PHP2.6 trillion in 2017.
Tourism Contribution to Philippines' GDP Rises
News in Asia
According to data released by the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) last week, in 2018 the tourism input to the country's GDP accounted for 12.7%. It is slightly more than in 2017 when tourism generated GDP reached 12.2%.