MANILA – Tourism demand in the Philippines remains strong despite volatilities and challenges besetting the industry, Tourism chief Dita Angara-Mathay said Wednesday.
Speaking at the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) conference on tourism resilience in Makati City, Angara-Mathay said foreign visitor arrivals from January to April 27, reached 2.24 million, up nearly 9 percent year-on-year.
“What this tells us is simple: tourism demand is still strong-but more sensitive, more selective, and more dynamic,” she said.
Thus, Angara-Mathay said the DOT would make a “more active and deliberate role” in stakeholder coordination to further strengthen tourism in the Philippines.
She said the agency will also continue to position tourism resilience as an economic priority, given its close to 9 percent contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) and support for employment.
“My background in trade, investments, and industry development shapes my perspective. I see tourism not just as a sector, but as an ecosystem—one that depends on investment flows, supply chains, enterprise development, infrastructure, and market access,” she said.
“It requires inputs. It requires coordination. It requires investment. And it requires discipline in execution. This lens will guide our work,” she stressed.
Angara-Mathay said DOT’s strategic direction in the next coming years would be focused on connectivity, domestic tourism, destination readiness, investment, ease of entry, and priority markets, such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe.
“Some of the challenges we face-particularly in infrastructure, connectivity, and investment-will take time. These are structural issues,” she said. “They require sustained effort and long-term commitment. So I ask for patience. But patience does not mean delay. We begin now.”
She noted that DOT’s infrastructure arm, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), is also readily organized in financing training, education, and tourism infrastructure.
“We want to keep doing that but what we will do is let people know where it (the funding) is going,” she said in a separate interview. (PNA)