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DOT CHIEF: LOWER BUDGET, STRICT ENTRY POLICIES FOR FOREIGNERS CAN HINDER TOURISM ARRIVAL TARGETS
Lower budget allocations for tourism programs and projects, as well as strict policies towards foreign visitors entering the Philippines, could remain as setbacks for the country to achieve its projected number of tourist arrivals, declared Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco.
In an interview over the program Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on People’s Television Network (PTV) aired last January 10, 2025, the Tourism Chief revealed the funding for the agency’s branding and promotion programs under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2025 was slashed from what it proposed under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for this year.
“The most affected change from NEP to GAA would be the budget for branding and promotions of the Philippines to our markets all over the world, dahil sa NEP ang budget nito ay around P500 million but when the GAA was released it has been reduced to P100 million,” she said.
She added the DOT suffered a hefty budget cut for its branding program, from P1.2 billion in 2023 to only P200 million in 2024, equivalent to a reduction of P1 billion.
Lower budget for marketing and promotions would definitely test the DOT’s sustained efforts to make the Philippines more attractive to international visitors, according to Secretary Frasco.
“The challenge of a very limited funding for branding and promotions is the difficulty of making sure na ang presensya ng Pilipinas sa consciousness ng potential travelers in markets around the world is always there,” she emphasized.
Not only the DOT’s “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign will be affected, but also “our destinations itself that will ultimately be the recipients of promotions being done by the DOT,” she added.
She pointed out, “We anticipate it will affect tourism arrivals considering the lesser opportunity that we have to market the Philippines, the lesser chances there are to reach as many markets or many people as we wish.”
According to data from the DOT, the Philippines received a total of 5,949,350 international visitors and overseas Filipinos in 2024. While it was higher by 9.15 percent than the 5,450,557 foreign tourists in 2023, the 2024 figure was lower than the DOT’s projection of 7.7 million tourist arrivals under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2023-2028.
Need for e-visa policy
Secretary Frasco highlighted the “challenges that the Philippines faced which then led to our numbers not reaching the target projections for 2024.”
For one, “nobody could have anticipated that geopolitics would ultimately seep into arrivals from China, considering that the electronic visa or e-visa for the Chinese market were suspended,” she said.
“Napakalaking challenge nito because originally what we projected is upwards to 2 million ang darating na Chinese tourists, pero ang dumating lang by the end of 2024 was a little over 300,000. This negative recover has gravely impacted our ability to reach targeted projecCons,” she added.
From the 1,743,309 travelers from China that visited the Philippines in 2019, the DOT recorded only 170,432 in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel, to a plunge of 9,674 in 2021, 39,627 in 2022, 263,836 in 2023, and 312,222 in 2024, based on tallies from the DOT.
The suspension of the e-visa policy for Chinese travelers was “in stark contrast to the policies of our ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors kung saan either hindi na kailangan ng visa from China or Chinese visitors or puwede ang visa on arrival,” added the Tourism Chief.
The DOT consistently advocated for the implementation of electronic visa or e-visa programs especially for potential tourism markets such as China.
However, the DOT somehow sees a silver lining in the rollout of the e-visa system for travelers from India, which Secretary Frasco described as a “large opportunity for the Philippines.”
“We are grateful that the President has directed an e-visa or an electronic travel authority option will be explored for the Indian market. We are hopeful the (DFA) and the Bureau of Immigration can mount that for this year,” she said.
According to previous reports, the DFA has opened e-visa applications for Indian travelers available in the Philippine embassy in New Delhi and in the country’s honorary consulates in Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai in late October last year.
Firm in commitment
Despite the said challenges faced by the DOT, Secretary Frasco declared the agency was “firm in our commitment to ensure we continue to increase tourism arrivals in the country.”
“In the wake of these challenges and many other matters beyond our control, nagpursige tayo. We diversified our tourism products, we focused on our top source markets, and we made sure mataas ang tourism spending,” she said.
Under the “Love the Philippines” campaign launched in 2023, she explained the DOT identified components to that will transform the Philippines into a “tourism powerhouse in Asia,” including the country’s award-winning islands and destinations; its abundant biodiversity; its rich culture, heritage, indigenous communities, and traditions that will give tourists the opportunity for a “purposeful and experiential travel;” and the diverse gastronomy with unique dishes and delicacies featured per region.
The “Love the Philippines” campaign has reached distant shores, captivating overseas Filipinos and foreigners alike from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, to as far as the United States with the many reasons for them to love the Philippines’ culture, food, and festivals.
“We are executing the ‘Love the Philippines’ campaign and the promotion of our islands, destinations and tourism products by way of traditional marketing and placements. Meron ding executions with globally recognized multimedia platforms, as well as social media, kasali na ang billboard executions natin,” said Secretary Frasco.
Tourism infra equally important
Meanwhile, the Tourism Chief underscored the importance of improving the country’s gateways and other tourism infrastructure like roads to make Philippine tourism globally competitive.
She reported that under the Marcos administration, an estimated 500 Kilometers of tourism roads connecting to tourist attractions like waterfalls, beaches and mountain resorts have been built.
She also noted the public-private partnership (PPP) projects, both current and upcoming, implemented at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, as well as airports in Bohol, Dumaguete, Laguindingan in Cagayan de Oro, and Bicol.
Equally important to airports are seaports, with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) pledging to construct more cruise ports across the country, she added.
However, Secretary Frasco expressed concern over the reduction of budget allocations for the construction of more tourism roads for 2025.
“For 2024, P15 billion was devoted for construction and rehabilitation of tourism roads, but for 2025 it stands at only P6 billion,” she said.
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Published:January 12, 2025
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