The Department of Tourism (DOT) said a higher budget in 2024 will enable it to attain 7.7 million tourist arrivals that year, an important indicator to attaining pre-pandemic level in 2025 to 8 million.
“The goal (of) the Department of Tourism for 2024… is at 7.7 million international tourists at its baseline and… we are going to aggressively pursue that number, if not in excess of that number, in our earnest desire to return to pre-pandemic levels sooner than what is predicted,” said DOT Secretary Christina Frasco at the budget hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations last Tuesday.
Frasco said in the DOT’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) for next year, the allocation of P2.99 billion is 20 percent lower than the P3.7 billion budget for the current year.
“Arming the Department of Tourism with the additional budget would help us greatly in the flagship programs that have been identified by the Marcos administration that seeks not only to benefit our key destinations, but our emerging destinations as well,” Frasco said.
Frasco reported on the promising recovery rate of the tourism industry based on
international tourist arrivals from January to July which was recorded at 3.427 million.
This is a 66.33 percent recovery rate compared to the same period in 2019, and surpasses the 2022 average growth rate of 54 percent in Asia Pacific, according to the UN World Tourism Organization World Tourism Barometer May 2023.
The number comprises 71 percent of the DOT’s baseline target for 2023, which is 4.8 million foreign visitor arrivals.
The DOT also recorded P368 billion in revenue from international visitors from January to July.
While the DOT was able to successfully launch its flagship programs through budget augmentation from its attached agencies including the Tourism Promotions Board and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, Frasco noted the agency “is in dire need of a budget that is equitable to its contribution to the coffers of the national economy.”
Frasco also took note of the lawmakers’ suggestions and concerns, including on the utilization rate of the department for the current year.
She assured stringent measures have been put in place toward the full utilization of its 2023 budget by the end of the year, as part of the agency’s commitment to uphold transparency in its undertakings.
