Tourism industry
LIKE the dollar-oriented manpower export industry, the travel and tourism industry is “a major pillar” of the Philippine economy.
In fact, various quarters acknowledged that the tourist industry contributes to revenue generation and job creation in the country.
Official records show that the travel and tourism industry contributed 6.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year.
Of course, this was lower than the 12.7 percent record in 2019 , which was prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Bumaba ang figure noong pandemya dahil sa mga state-imposed-restrictions para mapigilan ang pagkalat ng virus,” a tourist guide said.
But after the two-year pandemic, foreign and local tourists started returning to known tourist spots across the Philippines.
That’s why we cannot overemphasize the importance of coming up with more programs aimed at encouraging foreigners to visit the country.
One way of encouraging forreign and local tourists to visit our tourist spots not only in Luzon but elsewhere is to ensure their health and safety
And it must certainly be saddening and frustrating if the country fails to address the many problems confronting the tourist industry.
And it is to the credit of the national government that we are succeeding in developing more tourist destinations in this Asian country.
