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To Build Up Tourism, Philippines Loosens Pandemic Restrictions For Filipinos

Ashley Westerman

The tourism industry in the Philippines lost some $8 billion in 2020 because of the pandemic. Filipinos are being encouraged to travel domestically to try to restart a crucial sector of the economy.

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Eager for visitors, the Philippines reopens to international tourists.

The Southeast Asian nation had closed its borders to most visitors for nearly two years.

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By Jason Gutierrez

• Feb. 10, 2022

MANILA — The Philippines reopened to international tourists on Thursday for the first time in almost two years, as it looks to kick-start an economy hit hard by the pandemic and the measures taken to control it.

Tourists from 157 countries that have a no-visa arrangement with the Philippines are now welcome, provided they are fully vaccinated and can show a negative coronavirus test, the government said.

The Philippine tourism secretary, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, said reopening the sector was part of the government’s overall program to revitalize the economy, which has suffered greatly in the health crisis but slightly recovered last year.

“We haven’t had good news for a long time,” she said, adding that she was confident the change would bring back jobs and revenue lost during the pandemic.

Unvaccinated travelers will still need to check into quarantine facilities on arrival, she said, but fully vaccinated Filipino nationals and foreigners would not.

She stressed that nearly all workers in the country’s tourism sector have been vaccinated, and that her department was also helping tourism workers get booster shots.

All hotels in the Philippines have also gone through and completed safety audits, she said.

The Philippines, with a population of 110 million, has recorded an average of about 6,500 new cases a day over the past week, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. That represents a sharp drop from less than a month ago, when the country was recording more than 30,000 cases a day.

The “careful reopening of the economy” came amid strong lobbying from Ms. Romulo-Puyat, who noted that tourism-related industries suffered tremendously from the health-induced slowdown. The Philippines’ economy grew 5.6 percent last year, after a harsh recession in 2020.

The reopening was originally set for December but was delayed when the highly transmissible Omicron variant spread around the world.

Philippines surpasses 1.2 million international tourist arrivals in first two months of 2024

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Department of Tourism (DOT) recently expressed confidence in sustaining the country’s tourism gains under the present administration, with international visitor arrivals to the Philippines breaching the 1.2-million mark in just a little over the first two months of 2024. 

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco made the announcement at the Philippine Pavillion at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse (ITB) 2024 Convention in Berlin, Germany. 

“I would like to express my profound gratitude first to all our Philippine sellers who continue to champion Philippine tourism. As of today, [March 05], the Philippines has received over 1.2 million international visitors: a robust indication of the future of Philippine tourism. Cheers to all the reasons to celebrate and Love the Philippines,” enthused Secretary Frasco as she offered a toast to the successful first day of the country’s participation in the ITB 2024. 

Based on the DOT’s report for January to March 2024 as of March 05, international tourist arrivals to the Philippines have tallied 1,227,815. 

Foreign tourist arrivals took the lion’s share, with 1,160,129 or 94.49%. Meanwhile, 67,686, or 5.51%, are Overseas Filipinos (OFs). 

According to Secretary Frasco, this is 22.86% higher than the 999,390 arrivals received by the country in the same period in 2023. 

In terms of international visitor arrivals, South Korea remains the country’s top source market for visitors with 349,956 or 28.50% of the total, followed by the United States of America (USA) with 195,603 or 15.93%, China with 85,876 (6.99%), Japan with 73,159 (5.96%), and Canada landing on the fifth spot with 50,555 (4.12%). 

Meanwhile, Australia took the sixth spot with 50,488 (4.11%), Taiwan with 42,955 (3.50%), the United Kingdom with 30,507 (2.48%), Singapore with 25,253 (2.06%), and Germany with 20,816 (1.70%). 

Notably, the DOT is also seeing an increase in terms of estimated visitor receipts.  

Based on the Visitor Sample Survey data, estimated visitor receipts for January 2024 totaled USD 652.26 million, or 4.84% higher than the USD 622.14 million recorded in January 2023. 

It may be recalled that in 2023, the Philippines received over 5.45 million international visitors, successfully breaching the 4.8 million arrivals target set by the industry. This year, the country has a baseline target of 7.7 million arrivals. 

Love for the Philippines at the ITB 2024 

The tourism chief is in Germany to lead the DOT and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines in bringing the country’s biggest delegation yet to the ITB 2024, the world’s largest travel trade show. 

Close to 60 delegates composed of co-exhibitors from the public and private sector joined the delegation led by Secretary Frasco and TPB Philippines Chief Operating Officer (COO) Margarita  Nograles , including representatives from hotel and resort enterprises, destination management companies, travel and tour agencies, government agencies such as the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), as well as the local government units of Bohol, Camiguin, Siquijor, and Sipalay, Negros Occidental. 

The Philippine pavilion, designed with local elements from mother of pearl to bamboo print weaves, hosted business-to-business (B2B) meetings of the participating sellers from 28 private companies and booth visitors from different regions of the world, ensuring that the presence of the Philippines is sustained for its various important international visitor source markets. 

The spotlight was placed on the award-winning destinations of the Philippines and hidden gems from the islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, including Bohol, Siquijor, Cebu, Camiguin, and Ilocos Sur. 

The Loboc Children’s Choir from Bohol and Kalumon Performers from Davao are a big hit to participants visiting the Philippine Booth at the ITB 2024. 

Visitors also enjoyed the experience of wearing traditional Filipino baro’t saya created by designer Avel Bacudio while posing with the heritage city of Vigan in Ilocos Sur as backdrop. 

In her speech during the opening ceremony, Secretary Frasco highlighted that the goal of the country’s participation in the international event is to give “the best foot forward for the Philippines” toward the journey of transformation.

“This is a coming together of the entire nation to rally for the Philippines by bringing the Philippine delegation to ITB Berlin to showcase our world-renowned destinations, our emerging and key destinations, and to remind the world that the Filipino story has yet to be told through the work of our local artisans and makers, our communities, our megabiodiversity of which we are truly blessed,” the tourism chief said.  

“Our presence at ITB Berlin underscores our shared commitment to elevating and expanding the demand for Philippine tourism. As one united Philippines delegation, we will showcase to the world the very best qualities of the Philippines — our distinct culture, our unique product offerings, and of course, our greatest asset — the warmth and love of the Filipino people,” she added.  

Secretary Frasco noted that employment opportunities are being made available for Filipinos through the collective effort of tourism stakeholders from the private and public sectors. 

“Thank you for your never-ending belief in the potential of Philippine tourism. By your work, we are hopeful that tourism shall continue to provide livelihood and employment to our fellow Filipinos and extend opportunities all over the country,” Secretary Frasco said as she addressed the stakeholders that make up the Philippine delegation at the ITB 2024. 

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The Daily Iowan

How the Philippines’ tourism industry is changing in 2023

Promoted Post February 14, 2023

There is no arguing that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the tourism industry in a major way, forcing the sector to shift focus to new and innovative ways to promote tourism and facilitate travel.

Recovery Strategies for 2023

One of the big tourism catalysts of the year is the E-arrival pass , seamlessly integrating the information required by five government agencies into a single platform.

“It makes travel as convenient as possible for any Filipino or tourist coming into the country by removing any barriers that would otherwise dissuade tourists from coming into the Philippines,” Department Of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said.

Tourist Rest Areas are another exciting project launched recently. These one-stop centers will provide restrooms, coffee shops, Pasalubong and souvenir Stores, Tourist Information areas, and a Charging Station.

“The tourist rest area was conceptualized in fulfillment of one of our objectives in the Department of Tourism to ensure that we equalize tourism promotion and development not only in the key destinations within the country but also to lesser known areas that have great potential for tourism development. It is our President’s desire to spread economic opportunity and livelihood all over the Philippines especially and including Mindanao,” Frasco explained.

All of this has created a solid foundation for the tourism sector to continue its upward trajectory, becoming one of the most competitive markets in Asia once more.

“Aside from diversifying our products in arts and film tourism, we are also developing the country’s existing tourism products including dive and marine sports tourism, education, health, and cruise tourism, food, and gastronomy tourism, culture and heritage tourism, MICE tourism and halal tourism,” said Frasco.

The “Bisita (Visitor) Be My Guest” program is another ambitious idea launched by the department late in 2022.

The initiative incentivizes Filipinos, especially those living abroad, to be ambassadors for the country and bring friends to visit the country.

They will win prizes and receive discounts through the app’s privilege card.

Domestic tourism is also getting a big boost thanks to President, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr’s decree that public holidays that fall on a weekend would be moved to a Monday.

Frasco noted that this was a huge help to the industry and added that “it also stoked a lot of interest and excitement among fellow Filipinos in terms of booking their trips for 2023.”

At the end of the year, DOT signed into a partnership with the Department of Information and Communication Technology to improve the experience tourists have when visiting Tourism Centers across the country.

More than 94 locations will benefit from the proposed developments which include improved internet connectivity and more digitized tourism experiences.

Recovering Figures

The Philippines is one of the tourism-dependent economies that was struck the hardest, bringing its 13% GDP contribution to its knees.

In 2021, the Philippines had its worst year for inbound tourists in decades, reporting even lower figures than in 2020.

The government launched the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign, promoting domestic travel, and saw great returns as there was a 39% increase over that same time.

But things are looking up and the Philippines is looking to double its tourism figures from 2022 which was already much better than some 160,000 visitors in the previous year.

The Department of Tourism noted that they welcomed around 2.46 million visitors in 2022 but that they would be aiming to reach around 4.8 million arrivals in 2023.

Secretary Frasco explained that they are cautiously optimistic despite external factors like Chinese lockdowns, the war in Ukraine, and rising fuel costs.

“We look at it with optimism in a sense that our goal is to exceed our conservative projections in the same way that we have been able to exceed it this year,” she said.

“And we feel that we would be able to exceed our pre-pandemic numbers way earlier than the 2025 year that was told to us when we assumed office with the improved policies under the Marcos administration,” Frasco added.

New Markets

The largest number of foreign tourists came from China and South Korea but due to their stricks border control measures , those tourists all but disappeared.

The Filipino government has announced a new strategy to now target Middle-Eastern tourists in the hope of reaching their desired visitors count.

“We won’t just focus on continuing to promote halal tourism among halal tourism-accredited establishments in Mindanao, but will be expanding accreditation to establishments across the Philippines,” Frasco explained.

Saudi Arabians were the top arrival from the Middle East but still only ranked 23 rd in overall arrivals, a position DOT is looking to drastically increase.

“We are very conscious of developing opportunity markets where this type of tourism may be attractive and that includes Malaysia, Indonesia, (and) our friends in the Middle East,” she added.

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Bolstering Philippine tourism as it bounces back

By Chelsey Keith P. Ignacio , Special Features and Content Senior Writer

Travel plans were put on hold amid the border closures and limited mobility prompted by the pandemic. But as restrictions ease and places reopen last year, many travelers are now pumped to get packing. The recovery of tourism, therefore, is taking off. So what lies ahead for the industry this year?

From optimism towards tourism to initiatives to strengthen the industry, tourism leaders and players explored “Further Rebounding the Philippine Tourism Sector” during the BusinessWorld Insights online forum on May 3.

The Philippines has welcomed over 1.8 million international arrivals in the first four months of 2023, according to the Department of Tourism (DoT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco. This already surpassed DoT’s target of 1.7 million for last year, which the country also exceeded with 2.65 international arrivals logged in 2022.

“For 2023, the projections of the DoT are that we would be able to usher in no less than 4.8 million in international arrivals. And we fully anticipate the 100% recovery of domestic tourism this year, meaning no less than 122 million domestic trips,” Ms. Frasco said.

“We are very confident of being able to accomplish our goals and that I consider to be our baseline, not our ceiling,” she added.

Hotels and restaurants are now also serving more people, according to Robert John Horrigan, general manager of Acacia Hotel and vice-president for Hotel Division of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP).

“With the HRAP, we’ve seen our occupancies go higher and our average daily rates; in our restaurants, we have more and more diners. So it is here, revenge travel and tourism is back,” he said.

Maria Suzette Geminiano, corporate marketing manager of Hotel Sogo, meanwhile expressed her bullishness over the path ahead for the country’s tourism.

“We still remain optimistic about the future of Philippine tourism. And by implementing the right measures and working together, we can further rebound and emerge as stronger tourism industry,” she said.

Ms. Geminiano also observed three angles in the changed behavior among travelers in the course of the pandemic.

These behaviors included revenge tourism among several people, with their eagerness to have relaxation and recreation driving them to book many travels; fear of the virus, which would push some people to choose a specific location to stay in; and spending more time with families or loved ones, after some people experienced losing someone during the pandemic.

“These three experiences or behaviors will all still drive us to the improvement of our tourism,” Ms. Geminiano said.

Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) President Patria T. Chiong also said they are “very optimistic and enthusiastic” now as they are launching events, travels, and tourism, as well as promoting the Philippines as a tourist destination domestically and internationally.

Ms. Chiong especially promoted other parts of the country among Filipino travelers. “We should not only promote Manila because Manila is already congested to our international travelers, but also promote the other cities,” she said.

“We not only have Manila as a tourist destination, but we also have Cebu, Davao, Siargao, and other destinations in the Philippines. As all of us know, the Philippines is an archipelago and we have more than 7,000 islands and we cater to all types of tourists,” she added.

Ms. Chiong also considered word-of-mouth advertising as the best way to persuade friends and family members to travel to one’s preferred tourist destinations in the country.

Additionally, she highlighted that Filipinos should help each other and promote the country to foreign people abroad.

“That’s what I do every time I go abroad. I inform my foreign friends, ‘Come and visit us and I’ll show you around.’ If all Filipinos could do that — or let’s just say half of us, that is already 55 million — it would be easy to achieve the target of DoT,” she said.

Infrastructure

HRAP’s Mr. Horrigan hoped Philippine tourism’s gross domestic product to reach 20%, similar to its neighboring countries Malaysia and Thailand. For this matter, he said, the key is infrastructure.

“The World Travel and Tourism Council were talking about the Philippines. We have the best beaches, the best people, but they were talking about infrastructure. And so that’s one area that we lacked, meaning international airports,” he shared.

Yet, he said that HRAP is excited about the creation of more international airports, such as the Bulacan International Airport and the Sangley Airport in Cavite.

“A lot of countries have issues with manpower, their beaches are not as nice. We actually have them all. So it’s really infrastructure, which the government is working on right now,” he said.

Key strategies

For the government’s part, connectivity, convenience, and equality are the three key strategies in going about implementing its vision of “establish[ing] a tourism industry that is anchored on Filipino culture, heritage, and identity, which aims to be sustainable, resilient, and competitive in order to transform the Philippines into a tourism powerhouse in Asia,” DoT’s Ms. Frasco said.

Among the government’s initiatives for connectivity is negotiating for more flights not only coming into key destinations but also to lesser-known destinations.

“We have also looked into the maximization of our secondary gateways, looking to expand flights out of our Metro Manila airport into our secondary airports such as Clark, Cebu, Davao International Airport, and the like,” Ms. Frasco said.

And to provide convenience to tourists, the Tourism Secretary said they are setting up tourism information booths throughout the country. The government is also developing a Tourist Life Cycle app and a tourist call center.

Meanwhile, equality meant ensuring that “no destination is left behind in the development of tourism in the country,” said Ms. Frasco. Thus, she said the government is looking into different tourism portfolio, seeking to make the Philippine experience known to the world. This would include festivals, foods, and products of local artisans and makers.

Sustainable tourism

As tourism is expected to get back on track, several destinations in the Philippines would be flocked by Filipino and foreign travelers. But would this affect the environment?

Tourism could cause problems to the environment such as pollution. To ensure that the environment would not be damaged by the surge of tourists in different destinations, the respective local government units (LGUs) have a critical role to play.

“The government has to step in because privately, we cannot control the number of arrivals,” PTAA’s Ms. Chiong said. “The government has to impose restrictions and strict rules to be followed.” And LGUs, she added, should support DoT’s initiatives.

Ms. Frasco of DoT also said that policies on sustainable development serve no purpose if unable to be put in place with LGUs’ cooperation.

Sustainable tourism is “the bedrock of tourism development” under the current administration and is the umbrella of policies established under the National Tourism Development Plan, according to Ms. Frasco.

She also mentioned the proposal for forming a National Sustainable Tourism Council, which would be composed of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and other related government agencies.

“So it’s a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach as far as ensuring that we’re able to institute policies that ensure the longevity of the destination, and to ensure also that we encourage our tourists to leave the destination better than when they found it,” she said.

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Impact of COVID-19 on the Philippine Tourism industry

Introduction.

Without a doubt, the tourism industry is among the sectors that have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The closing of borders, airports, and hotels as well as restrictions on mass gatherings, land travel and related services across the world put around 100 to 120 million jobs at risk, as estimated by the World Tourism Organization.

In the first quarter of 2020, the period when the travel restrictions and lockdowns in most countries started, international tourist arrivals declined by 22% resulting in an estimated loss of US$80bn in global tourism receipts. In such period, 97 destinations have totally or partially closed their borders for tourists, 65 destinations have suspended international flights totally or partially, and 39 destinations were implementing the closing of borders (i.e., banning the arrivals from specific countries).

International tourist arrivals by region in Q1 2020

In the Philippines, the government closed the airports in Luzon on 20 March as part of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) that started in the island on 16 March. The tourism sector has already felt the negative impact of the pandemic on its performance much earlier. In other countries, travel restrictions and measures have started as early as January of this year, and have impacted the Philippine international tourist arrivals. Domestic tourists, on the other hand, also limited their travel for fear of contracting COVID-19. The Department of Tourism reported that international tourist receipts in the first quarter of the year declined to PHP85bn, 36% lower than the revenues in the same period last year.

To understand the impact of COVID-19 on the Philippine tourism industry, PwC Philippines, together with the Department of Tourism, surveyed 247 decision makers across the different subsectors in May 2020.

Forty-four percent of the respondents are from the tourism services sector (i.e., travel agencies, bookings, tours, etc.), and 34% are from the accommodations sector. According to the survey, 97% say that COVID-19 has the potential for significant impact on their business operations, and is causing them great concern. Such finding is not surprising given that only businesses related to essential services and products were the only enterprises allowed to operate during the ECQ. Because of the low demand and restrictions, majority of the respondents say that they temporarily stopped offering a service/product, reduced their level of operations, and reduced the employee headcount.

Over 70% of the respondents belong to the tourism services and accommodations subsectors

Tourism-related businesses have opted to temporarily stop offering their products/services during the ecq, either due to restrictions or low demand, impact of covid-19 outbreak on the philippine tourism industry.

Given the travel restrictions and closure of businesses, 88% of the respondents expect losses of over 50% of their 2020 revenues. Sixty-three percent of the respondents also say that they expect their businesses to normalize within six months to over a year. Such findings are worrying because the tourism industry contributed 12.7% of the country’s GDP in 2019, and provided 5.71 million jobs in the same year.

Globally, the World Travel and Tourism council estimated that it could take up to ten months for the industry to recover.

Nine months since the virus was first detected in China, there is still no sign that the spread is slowing down. The road to recovery can take longer than initially anticipated. Fitch forecasts that tourist arrivals and tourism receipts will not go back to pre-COVID levels even five years hence.

The country had a stellar performance in 2019 with 8.3 million tourist arrivals and PHP550.2bn in international tourism receipts. Latest estimates show that 2020 tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts will go down to 3.9 million and PHP279.5bn, respectively.

Note: f - forecast Source: Fitch

Recovering from the pandemic

To help recover from the pandemic, 78% of the respondents say that they need up to PHP5m in additional funding to help normalize their operations. Majority say that they need such funds for working capital requirements, marketing fund to rebuild their brands, and refinancing.

With 91% of the respondents coming from the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), it’s not surprising that 73% are planning to avail of government grants and subsidies to help revive their operations. 

Many businesses are banking on government subsidies and grants as additional funding

Sources of funds to be obtained in the next 3 to 6 months, most businesses need funding to normalize their operations. it will be mainly used for working capital, and marketing and promotions. , around 78% need up to php5m in additional funding to normalize their operations after ecq, over 50% of the respondents plan to use their new funding to support working capital requirements, and rebuild their brand, mitigating the impact of covid-19.

To help businesses and individuals mitigate the impact of COVID-19, the country’s House of Representatives approved House Bill 6815 or the proposed Philippine Economic Stimulus Act (PESA) in June 2020. Once passed into law, an economic stimulus package amounting to PHP1.3 trillion will be provided in the next four years to fund the COVID-19 testing, wage subsidies, and assistance to MSMEs. Under the bill, PHP58bn will be appropriated to DOT-accredited tourism enterprises for the following programs:

• Interest-free loans or issuance of loan guarantees with terms of up to five (5) years for maintenance and operating expenses
• Credit facilities for upgrading, rehabilitation, or modernization of current establishments or facilities to be compliant with new health and safety standards
• Marketing and product development promotions and programs
• Grants for education training, and advising of tourism stakeholders for new normal alternative livelihood programs
• Utilization of information technology
• Other relevant programs, including infrastructure to mitigate the economic effects of COVID-19 on the tourism industry

Restarting the tourism sector

With the absence of revenues, majority of the respondents say that they can only sustain their operations for up to six months. Similarly, most of the respondents have a cash runway of up to six months.

How to restart the tourism sector after COVID-19 is one of the top questions leaders across the world are asking. In fact, 79% of the survey respondents say that they expect international tourist arrivals to decline by over 50% in 2020. A respondent shares, “I hope that the government and the Department of Tourism will be able to come up with a clear bounce back program immediately so the stakeholders may be able to make business decisions.” 

Government assistance is needed to help businesses survive the impact of the pandemic

Many tourism-related businesses can sustain their operations and cash up to 6 months only., how the government can help tourism-related businesses.

While the government is currently reviewing the possible financial assistance that may be provided to the tourism players. According to our respondents, access to customers, reasonably-priced consultants, and suppliers as among their top needs to have sustainable businesses after the ECQ.

In other countries, some of the initiatives to help restart tourism are as follows:

• Funding to engage customers and maintain mindshare. 
• The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a US$20m Marketing Partnership Programme. 
• STB has also launched the SG Stories Content Fund of US$2m
• Online training to upskill workers
• Tools to accelerate digital transformation
• Go To Campaign - the government will subsidize half of domestic travel costs of up to ¥20,000 per night and issue coupons that can be used at souvenir shops and elsewhere
• Creating attractive stay content for diversifying customers, etc.
• For Japanese consumers who purchased domestic travel products during the period via travel agents etc., coupons equivalent to 1/2 of the price (including accommodation discounts, coupons, and usage coupons for local products, restaurants, facilities, etc.) are given
• Project to develop the capacity of entrepreneurs and personnel in tourism to improve the quality of service and build confidence for tourists
• CCTV installation in important tourist attractions to maintain the safety of tourists in Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Krabi, Chonburi and Phuket provinces
• Project to promote and upgrade tourism operators to Thai tourism standards
• Project to promote the development of accommodation for tourism in the community

The industry expects a significant decline in international tourist arrivals, and almost all consider insuring their businesses for pandemics

International tourist arrivals are expected to dramatically decline in 2020., including pandemics as part of insurance coverage.

of respondents say pandemics should be included in the coverage

Insuring businesses for any eventualities/crisis that may arise

of respondents consider insuring their businesses for crises events such as COVID-19 pandemic

Getting back in flight

The Philippines has beautiful islands that will once again attract the tourists after the pandemic. Nevertheless, the country should take this opportunity to rebuild the sector by helping the players upskill and digitalize, rethink the way they do business, and ensure compliance with safety and health standards. Promoting medical tourism and agri-tourism may be among the programs that the country can prioritize to help restart the sector.

While the Philippines is experiencing difficulties at this time, Filipinos should remember that through combined efforts and hard work in the past, the country was able to grow the tourism sector, and made it one of the top GDP contributors. With the country’s renewed commitment, Filipinos can be confident that that the tourism industry will achieve better success after this pandemic.

While tax incentives and removing barriers to financing are relevant, access to customers is the top need of the industry players

Apart from financing, majority consider access to customers as a vital component in keeping a sustainable business after the ecq, top government interventions the businesses wish to receive.

• Tax incentivized business
• Removing barriers to accessing financial support
• Loan grants
• Generate a platform for the promotion of MSMEs
• Loan guarantee scheme that creates modest value
• Provide a program for entrepreneurs to take up service oriented activities
• Create a program for startups
• Capacity building seminar

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Philippines Tourism: Post-Pandemic Recovery Under Way In 2024

Tourism / Philippines / Wed 31 Jan, 2024

Key View: We retain our view that the Philippines’ tourist arrival levels will fully recover to their pre-pandemic levels in 2024, after the country recorded a strong 2023 with over 5mn tourists arriving over the full year. In 2024 we project the Philippines' tourist arrivals will grow to 8.21mn. The country’s continued recovery from the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will be driven by increasing arrivals from key source markets in Asia, Europe and North America (primarily the US). Over our medium term forecast period (2024-2028) we forecast tourist arrivals to the Philippines will continue to expand with the market offering tourists from its key source markets a relatively affordable destination, which benefit from easy access (low level entry requirements) and strong transport links.

In January 2023, the Philippines Department of Tourism reported the country’s tourist arrivals for December 2023 had reached 514,416. The December 2023 figures brings the market’s total arrivals for the year to 5,003,475. The reported arrivals figures for 2023 stand at 61.1% of their pre-pandemic level in 2019 (8.19mn arrivals) and slightly higher than BMI’s projection of 4.9mn arrivals for 2023. South Korea, which has historically been the Philippines' largest arrivals source market, retained its ranking in 2023, making up 26.4% of arrivals for the year. 

Strong Month On Month Increase In Arrivals Over 2023

Philippines – cumulative 2023 monthly arrivals & 2024 arrivals forecast.

We forecast the Philippines’ arrivals to grow by 64.0% y-o-y in 2024 to reach 8.21mn arrivals. This would be a full recovery in arrivals, as well as being higher than the 8.19mn arrivals welcomed in 2019. We believe the growth and recovery in arrivals over 2024 will primarily be driven by increasing arrivals from key source markets, such as South Korea, Mainland China, the US, Japan, and Australia. We forecast the country’s arrivals to continue to increase over the remainder of our 2024-2028 forecast, reaching a projected 9.5mn arrivals in 2028. This represents an average annual growth rate of 15.8% y-o-y over 2024-2028.

We note that there are short term risks to our outlook for the Philippines arrivals stemming from heightened consumer inflation in the Philippine’s key source markets. We expect inflationary pressures to ease over 2024, but consumers will remain price sensitive in the short term and this is likely to be reflected in increased travel to domestic and short haul destinations, a trade down from long-haul international destinations, which have a higher price point. Nevertheless, the Philippines is a relatively affordable travel destination, and we expect it to particularly benefit from strong regional arrivals, due to its proximity and strong transport links with its key Asia source markets.

This commentary is published by BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, and is not a comment on Fitch Ratings Credit Ratings. Any comments or data included in the report are solely derived from BMI and independent sources. Fitch Ratings analysts do not share data or information with BMI. Copyright © 2023 Fitch Solutions Group Limited. All rights reserved. 30 North Colonnade, London E14 5GN, UK.

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Today’s front page, Wednesday, May 1, 2024

The current state and outlook of global and Philippine tourism

• Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes
• July 8, 2021
• 3 minute read

Tourism, broadly defined, refers to travel for business or leisure. It is beneficial to an economy because it generates jobs and has income multiplier effects. In light of this pandemic, perhaps, it would be good to review the current state and outlook of global and Philippine tourism.

So, where is tourism now? Global data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) web site reveal declines in both income and jobs from 2019 to 2020. In 2019, global tourism generated about $9.170 trillion in income (10.4 percent of global income); however, in 2020, it generated just $4.671 trillion (5.5 percent of global income)—a 49.1-percent decline from the previous year. This contraction was much deeper than the 3.7-percent decline in global income.

In 2019, global tourism jobs numbered at 334 million, but this figure decreased by 18.6 percent to 272 million in 2020. From 2014 to 2019, on average, tourism accounted for 1 out of 4 net new jobs created. In 2020, however, the 272 million jobs registered by tourism accounted for just 1 out of 11 jobs globally.

For the Philippines, data from the WTTC web site reveal the same trends. In 2019, Philippine tourism generated about P4.468 trillion in income (22.5 percent of national income); however, in 2020, it generated just P2.619 trillion (14.6 percent of national income)—a 41.4-percent decline from the previous year. This contraction was much deeper than the 9.5-percent decline in national income.

Regarding employment, in 2019, Philippine tourism jobs numbered at about 9.571 million (22.8 percent of total employment). This figure decreased by 21.1 percent to 7.551 million (19.2 percent of total employment) in 2020.

The dampening effect of travel restrictions was also evident in tourist spending statistics. In 2019, total tourist spending in the Philippines was at P3.798 trillion, with P0.600 trillion (15.8 percent of total tourist spending and 10.7 percent of total exports) coming from international tourists and P3.198 trillion (84.2 percent of total tourist spending) coming from domestic tourists. In 2020, total tourist spending declined by 42.4 percent to P2.189 trillion, with P0.127 trillion (5.8 percent of total tourist spending and 2.8 percent of total exports) coming from international tourists and P2.062 trillion (94.2 percent of total tourist spending) coming from domestic tourists.

Nevertheless, more recent quarterly data from Cebu Pacific suggest a tentative recovery, as the number of passengers increased slowly from 61 in Q2-2020 (when strict lockdowns were first imposed) to 604 in Q2-2021. Prior to the lockdowns, in Q1-2020, the number of passengers was 4,391. The same pattern can also be seen in the number of flights, which slowly increased from 597 in Q2-2020 to 5,313 in Q2-2021. In Q1-2020, the number of flights was 29,695.

In a survey covering Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, as of May 2021, for domestic flights, the Philippines was still at 24 percent capacity—way behind Indonesia (64 percent) and Vietnam (114 percent). For international flights, though, the Philippines ranked first in restored capacity (17 percent) and second in passenger seats (298,000).

So, where is tourism likely to go? According to the WTTC, global tourism will likely exhibit four broad trends. One, there will be demand evolution, as traveler preferences and behaviors shift toward the familiar, predictable, and trusted. Domestic and regional vacations and the outdoors will reign in the short term, with tourism businesses and destinations already adapting.

Two, health and hygiene will become paramount in this new era. Personal experiences, advice from experts, and concerns for physical distancing will guide consumer behavior.

Three, amid stay-at-home orders, digital adoption and consumption will be on the rise, with consumers now expecting contactless technologies, including biometrics, as basic prerequisites for a safe and seamless travel experience.

Four, the world will be reinvigorated to tackle social, environmental, and institutional sustainability. In particular, heightened public awareness of the environment, wildlife markets, and poaching will boost advocacy for wildlife protection and ocean preservation.

Here in the Philippines, as reported by Colliers Market Intelligence, the tourism industry will not likely return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023 or 2024. The successful vaccine rollout should bolster travel confidence among foreign and domestic tourists and aid in the recovery of the tourism sector.

The same view is given by McKinsey & Company, which says that countries that have restored confidence—or are close to doing so—have seen economic activity return, or begin to return, to pre-crisis levels. McKinsey & Company also notes that uncertainty due to Covid-19 and related health risks has made many individuals, households, and businesses alter their behavior, even without formal restrictions from government.

Indeed, it all boils down to confidence, and this should not surprise anyone.

Dr. Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes is the Associate Director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development.

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Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Tourism industry in the Philippines - statistics & facts

Domestic tourism leading the industry in times of uncertainty, outlook of the tourism industry, key insights.

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Value of domestic tourism spending APAC 2022, by country

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Estimated online travel and tourism revenue Philippines 2023, by category

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Gross value added of the tourism industry Philippines 2019-2022, by type

Number of domestic tourism trips Philippines 2012-2021

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International tourist arrivals Philippines 2012-2023

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International tourist arrivals worldwide 2019-2022, by subregion

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 2019 to 2022, by subregion (in millions)

Value of domestic tourism expenditure in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, by country or territory (in billion U.S. dollars)

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Travel and tourism's direct contribution to employment APAC 2022, by country

Direct contribution of travel and tourism to employment in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, by country or territory (in millions)

Estimated revenue on online travel and tourism services in the Philippines in 2023, by category (in million U.S. dollars)

Economic impact

• Premium Statistic Gross value added of the tourism industry Philippines 2019-2022, by type
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Gross value added generated from the tourism industry in the Philippines from 2019 to 2022, by type (in billion Philippine pesos)

Share of tourism GDP Philippines 2012-2022

Share of direct gross value added of the tourism industry to the GDP of the Philippines from 2012 to 2022

Tourism industry growth rate Philippines 2018/19-2021/22, by sector

Annual growth rate of the gross value added generated from the tourism industry (GVATI) in the Philippines from 2018/19 to 2021/22, by sector

Tourism receipts Philippines 2019-2023

Tourism receipts in the Philippines from 2019 to 2023 (in billion Philippine pesos)

Tourism expenditures Philippines 2022, by travel type

Total value of tourism expenditures in the Philippines in 2022, by type of travel (in billion Philippine pesos)

Tourism sector employment figures Philippines 2012-2022

Total number of people employed in the tourism industry in the Philippines from 2012 to 2022 (in millions)

Inbound tourism

• Basic Statistic International tourist arrivals Philippines 2012-2023
• Premium Statistic Tourist arrivals Philippines 2023, by country of residence
• Premium Statistic Expenditure value in inbound tourism Philippines 2021-2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Number of inbound overnight tourists Philippines 2012-2021
• Premium Statistic Average length of stay of inbound tourists Philippines 2012-2021

Total number of international tourist arrivals to the Philippines from 2012 to 2023 (in millions)

Tourist arrivals Philippines 2023, by country of residence

Leading source countries of foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines in 2023 (in 1,000s)

Expenditure value in inbound tourism Philippines 2021-2022, by type

Total value of expenditure in inbound tourism in the Philippines in 2021 and 2022, by type (in billion Philippine pesos)

Number of inbound overnight tourists Philippines 2012-2021

Number of inbound overnight visitors in the Philippines from 2012 to 2021

Average length of stay of inbound tourists Philippines 2012-2021

Average length of stay of inbound tourists in the Philippines from 2012 to 2021 (in days)

Domestic tourism

• Premium Statistic Number of domestic tourism trips Philippines 2012-2021
• Premium Statistic Domestic passenger count Philippines 2023, by airline
• Premium Statistic Household expenditure share of domestic tourism spending Philippines 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Domestic tourism expenditures Philippines 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Domestic tourism expenditures Philippines 2020-2022, by product

Total number of domestic tourism trips in the Philippines from 2012 to 2021 (in 1,000s)

Domestic passenger count Philippines 2023, by airline

Number of domestic passengers in the Philippines in 2023, by airline (in 1,000s)

Household expenditure share of domestic tourism spending Philippines 2012-2022

Domestic tourism expenditure as a share of household final consumption expenditure in the Philippines from 2012 to 2022

Domestic tourism expenditures Philippines 2012-2022

Total value of domestic tourism expenditures in the Philippines from 2012 to 2022 (in billion Philippine pesos)

Domestic tourism expenditures Philippines 2020-2022, by product

Total value of expenditure in domestic tourism in the Philippines from 2020 to 2022, by product (in billion Philippine pesos)

Outbound tourism

• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist departures in the Philippines 2014-2029
• Premium Statistic Outbound tourism expenditures Philippines 2020-2022, by segment
• Premium Statistic Expenditures on accommodation services in outbound tourism Philippines 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Expenditures on food and beverage services in outbound tourism Philippines 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Expenditures on travel agency services in outbound tourism Philippines 2012-2022

Number of international tourist departures in the Philippines 2014-2029

Number of international tourist departures in the Philippines from 2014 to 2029 (in millions)

Outbound tourism expenditures Philippines 2020-2022, by segment

Total value of expenditure in outbound tourism in the Philippines from 2020 to 2022, by segment (in billion Philippine pesos)

Expenditures on accommodation services in outbound tourism Philippines 2012-2022

Value of expenditures on accommodation services for visitors in outbound tourism in the Philippines from 2012 to 2022 (in billion Philippine pesos)

Expenditures on food and beverage services in outbound tourism Philippines 2012-2022

Value of expenditures on food and beverage serving services in outbound tourism in the Philippines from 2012 to 2022 (in billion Philippine pesos)

Expenditures on travel agency services in outbound tourism Philippines 2012-2022

Value of expenditures on travel agencies and other reservation services in outbound tourism in the Philippines from 2012 to 2022 (in billion Philippine pesos)

Accommodation

• Premium Statistic Overnight travelers Philippines 2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Revenue of the hotels industry in the Philippines 2019-2028
• Premium Statistic Average hotel room rates Metro Manila Philippines 2021-2023, by star classification
• Premium Statistic Highest overnight room rates of hotels in Metro Manila, Philippines 2023, by city
• Premium Statistic Revenue of the vacation rentals industry in the Philippines 2019-2028

Overnight travelers Philippines 2022, by type

Number of overnight travelers in the Philippines in 2022, by type (in millions)

Revenue of the hotels industry in the Philippines 2019-2028

Revenue of the hotels market in the Philippines from 2019 to 2028 (in million U.S. dollars)

Average hotel room rates Metro Manila Philippines 2021-2023, by star classification

Average room rates of hotels in Metro Manila in the Philippines from 2021 to 2023, by star classification (in U.S. dollars)

Highest overnight room rates of hotels in Metro Manila, Philippines 2023, by city

Maximum overnight room rate of hotels in Metro Manila in the Philippines as of June 2023, by city (in Philippine pesos)

Revenue of the vacation rentals industry in the Philippines 2019-2028

Revenue of the vacation rentals market in the Philippines from 2019 to 2028 (in million U.S. dollars)

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Meet The Billionaire Betting Big On An Idyllic Island Retreat In The Philippines

Inside andrew tan's $720 million eco-tourism project in the country’s pristine beachside paradise., by jonathan burgos , forbes staff.

T he pitch is for tropical paradise: turquoise waters that lap a pristine shoreline fringed by lush, mist-streaked greenery. Philippine property giant Megaworld extolls on its Facebook page the virtues of Palawan island, the largest of a 1,780-island group by the same name that hangs to the left of the island nation in the Pacific. Here, Megaworld is pursuing its most complex project yet, a resort and residential estate that will be the island’s biggest real estate development to date.

On 462 hectares in San Vicente, a quiet, relatively untouched corner of Palawan’s northern coast, known for its rich biodiversity, virgin forests, steep karst cliffs and the longest white sand beach in the Philippines, Megaworld has a 15-year plan to raise a township from among the coconut trees—an ecofriendly addition, it says, to its hospitality, office, retail and residential portfolio that spans the country. When finished, Paragua Coastown will include two 10-story hotels, a residential condominium, villas, a hospital, a school, and wellness-related centers.

Megaworld, owned by billionaire Andrew Tan ’s spirits-to-property conglomerate Alliance Global Group, is pouring over 40 billion pesos ($720 million) into the venture—a tenth of what it plans to spend on building townships across the Philippines in the next five years. The company is banking on getting in on the ground floor as the island remakes itself into one of the country’s top tourist destinations. Some 1.5 million people, of which about 650,000 were overseas travelers, visited the island in 2023, nearly twice as many as the previous year, according to government figures, as tourists return to the Philippines post-Covid. (Boracay, the archipelago’s most popular resort island, had over 2 million visitors last year.) “We intend to showcase the best sustainable tourism and green living concepts by developing it into an ecotourism township,” Kevin Tan, Andrew’s eldest son and Megaworld’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer, says by email.

Andrew Tan (left), chairman of spirits-to-property conglomerate Alliance Global and his eldest son, Kevin Tan, CEO of Alliance Global.

San Vicente is seen as the next frontier in the island’s commercial boom, catching up to Palawan’s other island centers where tourism is flourishing, including its capital, Puerto Princesa City (home to the 8.2-kilometer underground river, a Unesco World Heritage site), and El Nido, a municipality comprised of small islands at Palawan’s northern tip that has in recent years become a playground for backpackers and jetsetters alike. Ayala Land, controlled by billionaire Jaime Zobel de Ayala and his family, has already made inroads as El Nido’s biggest developer, owning the 325-hectare Lio tourism estate along with four other resorts in the town’s smaller islands.

Megaworld broke ground last year on its 306-room Savoy Hotel Palawan and the nearby 189-unit Oceanfront Premier Residences tower, which are both slated to be completed in 2028. Construction of the 313-room Paragua Sands Hotel, which will open in 2029, has yet to start.

Most rooms will have water views, and the hiking trails of the Pagdanan mountain range, home to threatened wildlife such as the Philippine cockatoo, gray imperial pigeon and blue-naped parrot, are a short drive away.

Megaworld is building Paragua Coastown (left) along the coconut tree-lined (right) coastline of San Vicente, Palawan island in the Philippines.

“More than just sustainable tourism, our vision for Paragua Coastown is to be able to provide an opportunity to those who want to live the island life within a lush and sustainable landscape,” Tan says. To that end, he says Megaworld will incorporate solar and other renewable energy sources into its building design. There will be a waste-to-energy plant to supply electricity to the township as part of a new waste-management system and sewage-treatment center.

About 40% of Paragua Coastown’s land area has been earmarked for open (albeit landscaped) spaces, while a mangrove forest reserve in its boundaries will be left untouched. Megaworld also plans to plant thousands of trees on 100 hectares deforested by commercial logging, once a mainstay of the local economy, and upgrade the mostly dirt tracks used by San Vicente's 30,000 residents to a network of roads in and around the property.

Ana Margarita Lustre-Malijan, vice president at local hotelier and construction firmArlustre Group, believes such developments will be a huge boon for Palawan, bringing jobs and income to the island where about 15% of the population falls below the poverty line. It could also be the tipping point to improve accessibility to the area. There’s an airport in San Vicente, but Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, two of the nation’s main airlines, don’t fly there. Getting to San Vicente means a 90-minute flight from Manila or Cebu to Puerto Princesa and a bumpy four-hour car ride across rugged terrain. Cebu Pacific CEO Michael Szucs tells Forbes Asia that the airline will consider flying to San Vicente once the Megaworld hotels are built.

Tourists visiting the Puerto Princesa underground river (top left), a Unesco World Heritage site, while a wild pig roams Coconut Beach in San Vicente. View of San Vicente's famed stretch of white-sand beach (right).

Besides attracting homegrown developers, Palawan has become a stopping point for international hospitality brands. “Palawan stands out as an attractive destination, blending cultural richness with natural landscapes,” Raj Menon, Marriott’s president for Asia Pacific excluding China, says by email. The U.S. group will add over 70 rooms this year to its recently opened 168-room Four Points by Sheraton on Sabang Beach, near Puerto Princesa’s underground river, to meet demand. American hotel chains Best Western and Wyndham Hotels’ Microtel have also established a presence on the island.

Megaworld has begun marketing the Paragua Coastown residential units, which will range from 32-square-meter studios to 106-square-meter two-bedroom suites, and expects them to generate some 2.3 billion pesos in sales. Doubling down on Palawan, Megaworld announced in December it would spend another 7 billion pesos to develop a mixed-use complex on a 6-hectare oceanfront site in Puerto Princesa. Named Baytown Palawan, the commercial, hotel and residential project is expected to take five years to complete. “Palawan has always been a hotspot for local and international tourists,” Tan says.

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International visitors to the Philippines have gradually returned but remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Palawan isn’t the Tans’ only tourism play. They are building resorts, retail space and convention facilities across the archipelago, including tourist hotspots Boracay, Cebu and Davao. Megaworld’s hospitality operations accounted for over 5% of the company’s 2023 revenue of 69.7 billion pesos, and the company expects the business will make up at least 10% of revenue by 2028.

Andrew Tan launched Megaworld in the late 1980s, pioneering the living concept of a city within a city in the Philippines. It now counts 24 townships (with an additional seven under construction) nationwide, part of his sprawling business empire under Alliance Global comprising a controlling interest in Emperador, owner of the Dalmore whisky and Fundador brandy brands, and a stake in the Philippine franchisee of McDonalds. Tan ranked No. 11 on the Philippines’ 50 Richest 2023 list with $2.4 billion net worth.

“Expanding our townships all over the Philippines will sustain our growth as a company and allow us to also diversify our offering in the real estate industry,” says son Kevin, who is also vice chairman and CEO of Alliance Global. “Through these developments, we can make a significant impact across economic sectors.”

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Unleashing the full potential of tourism as a driver of growth

BETTER DAYS

Since the economy opened up after the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism has been a key contributor to the growth of the Philippine economy. Based on official data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, tourism made up 6.2 percent of the economy as measured by gross domestic product. The tourism sector is also an important player when it comes to providing jobs for our people. According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), the tourism sector employs 5.35 million Filipinos or about 11.4 percent of the total employment in the country. That means that more than one in every 10 Filipinos are working in the tourism sector.

For the first two months of 2024, the DOT recorded a total of 1.2 million foreign visitors to the country. As of March 5, the DOT reported a total of 1,227,815 international tourist arrivals. For the entire year, the country targets to generate 7.7 million arrivals. If realized, this would surpass the 2023 total of 5.45 million tourist arrivals. Comparing the data from the first two months of 2024 to the same period in 2023, it was up by only 22.86 percent from the 999,390 arrivals recorded.

Looking at the data on a per month basis using January as a baseline, we still see that we are lagging behind the numbers before the pandemic. In January of 2024, a total of 574,439 international tourists visited the Philippines. This represented a jump of 110,271 tourists over the same period in 2023. If we go back to January of 2020 or just before the Covid-19 pandemic put to a grinding halt all economic activities globally, the current year’s tally pales in comparison to the 782,132 posted at the time.

What this shows us is that there is still a huge potential for growth for our tourism sector. One particular area that could jumpstart the growth of the sector is the diving industry. Speaking at the Philippine International Dive Expo (PHIDEX), Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco noted that the diving industry contributed ₱73 billion to the economy in 2023, which was almost two times the 2022 figure of ₱37 billion. This does not come as a surprise considering that the Philippines was awarded as Asia’s leading dive destination for a fifth consecutive year in 2023 by the World Travel Awards. The award was based on public votes and validation from the group’s panel of travel professionals.

The Philippines is among the 17 mega biodiverse countries in the world, with more than 20,000 species of plants and animals that are not found anywhere else in the world. We have 2.2 million square kilometers of natural resources. Over 500 species of corals and 2,000 species of fish reside in our waters. This places us in a very strong position as a premier destination for divers.

We have a lot of already popular diving spots known to both domestic and international divers. These include the waters off Cebu, Palawan, Puerto Galera and even the Tubbataha Reef. There are a lot of lesser known diving spots that are slowly introducing themselves to the world. My home province of Aurora, for one, is making its mark as a diving destination. Baler has long been known as a leading destination for surfers. In fact, Baler has been declared as the birthplace of Philippine surfing by virtue of Republic Act 11957, which lapsed into law in August of 2023. Now, Aurora is positioning itself as a destination for freediving. Growing in popularity, freediving is evolving from a way of life for local fisherfolk to a hobby for casual divers and a competitive sport for professionals.

In his speech before the 2024 PHIDEX, which was read by Secretary Frasco, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emphasized the strengthening of collaboration between local and international stakeholders. The President was optimistic that the growth of the diving industry will be further boosted by programs such as the Dive Travel Exchange Business-to-Business meetings. Infrastructure also plays an important part in bringing in more tourists to the country.  It is worth noting that the current administration has recognized this with its Build Better More program. We need more airports with modern facilities and higher capacities, better transportation for greater mobility and health facilities at the tourist destinations that can provide services that are required for different types of emergencies. We hope to see the completion of the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport terminals and the development of new facilities such as the soon-to-be completed Bulacan airport.

Increasing the capacity of our airports is crucial if we are to compete with our ASEAN neighbors in bringing in more tourists. There is still a lot of room for growth in the industry and with the appropriate interventions, tourism could become a key driver of growth for the Philippines in the years to come. ( [email protected] |Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara) (Senator Sonny Angara has been in public service for 19 years — nine years as representative of the lone district of Aurora, and 10 as senator. He has authored, co-authored, and sponsored more than 330 laws.  He is currently serving his second term in the Senate)  

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DOT CHIEF: PHILIPPINES RECEIVES 2 MILLION INTERNATIONAL VISITORS; TOURISM RECEIPTS HIT PHP158 BILLION IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2024

PH FORGES EXPANDED TOURISM TIES WITH QATAR

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DOT UNVEILS TOURIST REST AREA IN PALAWAN

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LOVE THE FLAVORS, LOVE THE PHILIPPINES: THE PHILIPPINE EATSPERIENCE OPENS IN RIZAL PARK AND INTRAMUROS IN MANILA

DOT CHAMPIONS GENDER EQUALITY WITH SUCCESFUL HOSTING OF INAUGURAL PATA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN TRAVEL

PHILIPPINES TO BEEF TOURISM COOPERATION WITH AUSTRIA

THE PHILIPPINES RECORDS 1.2M INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS IN FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 2024

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Asia Pacific Golf Challenge 2020 Promo End:

Resorts World Manila’s AP Golf Challenge on February 24 - 28, 2020. Package starts from $900. The 1st RWM (Resorts World Manila) Asia

Philippine International Dive Expo (PHIDEX) 2019 Promo End:

Date: September 20-22, 2019 Time: 10AM-7PM Venue: Conrad Hotel, Philippines Open to public? No Attendees: Open to Dive travel and trade

Diving & Resort Travel Expo Philippines (DRT SHOW Philippines) 2019 Promo End:

Date: September 6-8, 2019 DRT Show is the ONLY Expo in Asia Pacific supported by more than 30 media partners worldwide. Watch last

Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) 2019 Promo End:

Philippine Tourism: Trailblazing Responsible Travel and Inclusive Growth Date: October 19-28, 2019       Arrival - October 19,

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The annual Anilao Underwater Shootout is the biggest underwater macro photography of its kind in the world. It is organized and sponsored

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Madrid Fusión Manila 2018 (MFM) is the first and only Asian edition of Madrid Fusion, the most important gastronomy event in the world,

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The Philippines is on the digital spotlight as it won the bid to host to the 2016 Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX Asia) to be held on October 13

MICECon 2016 Promo End:

This conference features plenary sessions on global trends on travel and tourism, marketing, leadership, innovations, technology as well as

April 29, 2024

Corals Are Once Again Bleaching En Masse, but Their Fate Isn’t Sealed

Amid Earth’s fourth global coral bleaching event, a leading expert says tackling climate change is the key to fighting back.

By Meghan Bartels

Exposure Labs/Getty Images

[CLIP: Theme music]

Terry Hughes: It's very stressful to spend an entire day in a plane flying over, say, 200 reefs, all of which are severely bleached.

Meghan Bartels: Earlier this month the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the International Coral Reef Initiative confirmed that the world’s fourth planetwide mass coral bleaching event is underway. Over the past 14 months scientists have documented significant bleaching in every major ocean basin. Some say that as already record-breaking sea-surface temperatures continue to rise, this is on track to become the worst mass bleaching event ever recorded.

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This is Science, Quickly , and I’m Meghan Bartels. Joining me is Terry Hughes, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Australia.

Bartels: Thanks so much for joining us. Could you start by just telling us why coral reefs are such important ecosystems?

Hughes: Yeah, coral reefs are an absolutely critical ecosystem to many hundreds of millions of people who live throughout the tropics. They're important for food security. They're important for reef tourism, which is a huge part of the economy of many countries, typically fairly small, rapidly developing countries, where employment options are often restricted. So the social and economic value of coral reefs, especially to people in the tropics, is enormous.

You know, the value of coral reefs differs to different people. Wealthy countries tend to view them as a nice place for a vacation. That's a reasonable reason for valuing coral reefs. But more importantly is the poor people who live beside them that depend on coral reefs for their food security and for the other so-called ecosystem services that coral reefs provide to societies.

Bartels: That makes sense. So scientists have determined that we’re in the middle of a global mass bleaching event. What exactly does that mean?

Hughes: Coral bleaching is a stress response by corals.

You can make a coral bleach if you torture it in any number of ways in an aquarium. If you make the salinity too high or too low, if you make the temperature too high or too low, if you add toxic chemicals or sediment, the coral will get stressed and it will lose its color.

The color comes from microscopic symbionts that live inside the tissue of the coral host, and that symbiotic relationship breaks down when the coral is stressed.

But the kinds of bleaching we've been seeing now since the 1980s around the world is driven indisputably by rising sea temperatures because nothing else is happening at that kind of scale.

We're talking thousands of kilometers of coastline or even globally, those kinds of bleaching events are triggered by exceptionally warm sea temperatures driven by anthropogenic heating, primarily from burning fossil fuels and from deforestation.

And of course, there's nowhere to hide from global warming. So even the most remote, most pristine coral reefs are vulnerable to these repeated bo- bouts of bleaching.

Sometimes there isn't actually enough time for bleaching to unfold. The corals just die from heat stress directly. They literally cook. And we saw that last summer in the Florida Keys and throughout the Caribbean where sea temperatures were off the charts. We've seen that repeatedly closer to my home in Australia on the Great Barrier Reef.

We also see a phenomenon where a coral becomes unusually colorful. It literally glows. And that's caused by a protein produced by the coral in a desperate bid to stay alive. Those proteins act as a sort of sunscreen. But it's not a very effective way of defending against record temperatures. So corals typically die within a week or two of becoming very colorful.

Bartels: How are scientists able to determine whether bleaching is happening on a global scale?

Hughes: So there are two ways to measure the extent of bleaching. One is directly through observations of individual reefs, and the other is indirectly using satellite data, which is what NOAA does. Satellite data tells you how hot the water has been for how long. And you can use that as a proxy for the intensity of bleaching.

The best way to get a regional scale picture of the extent of bleaching is to fly in a helicopter or a small plane. Or you can use a drone, but you probably need many hundreds of them to cover an area like the Great Barrier Reef. I have conducted aerial surveys of the Great Barrier Reef three times in 2016, 17 and 2020. It takes about eight days of flying in a small plane or helicopter to crisscross about a thousand reefs. And you can score the extent of bleaching on the reefs as you fly over them.

Bartels: How does it feel to see evidence of bleaching from above?

Hughes: Oh, well, when we fly over a reef with no bleaching, we literally cheer. And it's very stressful to spend an entire day in a plane flying over, say, 200 reefs, all of which are severely bleached. It's quite a confronting site, but it's the only way to get the big picture for something like the scale of the Great Barrier Reef.

And this year, the percent of the barrier reef which is severely bleached is at a record level. We've never seen a bleaching vent as extensive, spatially.

Bartels: How much of the reef is bleached, exactly?

Hughes: This year, 75 percent of the Great Barrier Reef has bleaching. The Great Barrier Reef is 2,300 kilometers long and it's up to 250 kilometers wide. It's 344,000 square kilometers in area, which is the size of Italy or Japan. So it's a big piece of real estate. And for 75 percent of it to be bleached in just one event, bearing in mind that this is the fifth event in eight years, is really very shocking.

Bartels: How are things unfolding in other regions?

Hughes: Last summer, we saw unprecedented bleaching in the Florida Keys and throughout the Caribbean. The eastern Pacific was also very bleached.

Fast forward six months and we've seen extensive bleaching throughout the Great Barrier Reef. That's 10 percent of the world's coral reefs.

There are current bleach warnings from NOAA for most of the Indian Ocean and for parts of the Coral Triangle. That's the region north of Australia that includes Indonesia, the Philippines, and six other countries.

Bartels: Is it true that bleaching doesn’t directly kill corals? How likely is it that all of these corals will survive the bleaching event?

Hughes: It's impossible that all of the corals that have bleached will all survive. Bleaching is not necessarily fatal, as you said, but often it is. And the likelihood of the corals dying depends on the severity of the bleaching and how long it lasts. It also depends on the severity of the heat stress. And heat stress this year in both the northern and southern hemispheres is at record levels. It's off the charts. So already in Australia, I've seen reports of up to 80% loss of bleached corals on some of the badly affected portions of the Great Barrier Reef. A mass bleaching event is by definition a mass mortality event.

The reality is we are losing literally billions of corals on the world's coral reefs.

Bartels: What do you find most concerning about the trends you’re seeing?

Hughes: So the concerning thing about these bleaching events, whether they're global or regional in scale, is that the gap between one bleaching event and the next is getting shorter and shorter. And those gaps are critically important. They're the window of opportunity for the fast-growing corals that are better at recovery to regain a foothold.

Ecologically, recovery means the replacement of dead corals by new live ones, ideally of the same species and eventually of the same size. And we're just not seeing that ecological recovery to the extent that we used to see when the gaps between these bleaching events was much longer.

So on the Barrier Reef, we were very lucky to have a 14-year gap between mass coral bleaching in 2002 and 2016. And that was sufficient for a half-decent recovery. But since then, we've had gaps of three years, two years and one year.

So the Barrier Reef seems to be settling into about a 50% chance of bleaching occurring again in each summer. And that's really horrific in terms of the capacity of the reef to bounce back.

Ironically, the corals that come back the quickest are also among the most heat sensitive. It's a bit like fire in a terrestrial landscape where a forest is destroyed and flammable grasses come back quicker than the trees do, which makes that ecosystem, ironically, more vulnerable to climate change, to driving fires. Exactly the same thing is happening on the world's coral reefs.

And of course, corals are critically important for the habitat that they provide to fish and crustaceans, all the iconic biodiversity that coral reefs are famous for. So when you lose a lot of corals, which you're seeing, sadly, everywhere now, it alters the entire ecosystem. It's like having a rainforest without the rainforest trees.

Bartels: Of course, there’s a lot of research looking for ways to protect coral reefs and make them more resilient to climate change. Is any of that making a difference?

Hughes: One of the most confronting aspects of the current global event is that it is destroying existing attempts to restore coral reefs. So in Florida, we saw that coral nurseries literally cooked.

We're seeing the same thing happening on the Great Barrier Reef, where many of the intervention trials are now failing, because putting more corals back out is really a death sentence as temperatures continue to rise.

So it's short-term. It might be worth doing at a high-value tourism site, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that we can save coral reefs by planting a few acres of corals.

Bartels: What do we need to do in order to keep corals alive in the long term?

Hughes: There's only one answer to that question, and that is we need sea temperatures to stabilize. Local management, looking after things like overfishing and pollution, is important, but it's not going to stop the intrusion of hot water.

Even the most pristine, most remote, best-managed coral reefs in the world are being hammered by repeated bouts of mass coral bleaching. And so the overwhelming challenge is for all countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible.

Bartels: As someone who has firsthand experience seeing these bleaching events unfold, what do you want people to know?

Hughes: I'll be underwater on the southern Great Barrier Reef at study sites that I have been studying since 1985, revealing my age. And I'm dreading it because the reef where my study sites are in the south has been exposed to the highest level of heat stress it has ever seen. And we already know that 80 percent of the corals there are bleached, and I'm fully expecting the majority of those to be dead or dying.

My message is we shouldn't give up on the world's coral reefs. They're just too valuable to lose, but restoration's not the way to save them. The way to save them is to deal with greenhouse gas emissions, and that's, of course, much, much harder.

Bartels: Science, Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Kelso Harper, Carin Leong, Madison Goldberg, and Jeff DelViscio. Today’s episode was hosted by me, Meghan Bartels. Elah Feder, Alexa Lim, Madison Goldberg and Anaissa Ruiz Tejada edit our show, with fact checking from Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.

For Science, Quickly , this is Meghan Bartels.

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