The tourism sector is projected to generate PHP2.7 trillion for the Philippine economy in 2025, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Tuesday.

Speaking at the House of Representatives’ hearing on the DOT’s PHP3.7-billion proposed budget for 2026, Tourism Undersecretary Verna Buensuceso said domestic travel would continue to drive the sector this year.

“In terms of our indicative projections for 2025, in terms of tourism employment we’re looking at 6.8 million and for gross value added, we’re looking at PHP2.7 trillion,” she told lawmakers.

In 2024, the share of the Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA) to the economy reached PHP2.35 trillion or about 8.9 percent. Employment in the sector in the same year posted a 6.1-percent increase to 6.75 million, compared with the 6.37 million in 2023.

The DOT has yet to provide targets or projections for the international arrivals in 2025.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco attributed the Philippines’ missed 2024 target of 7.7 million foreign visitors to a number of factors, including the postponed e-Visa program for the Chinese market.

“Had we been able to continue the e-Visa program, then we would have been able to bring in the 2 million. And if you add 5.9 million plus two million, that is in excess of the projected 7.7 million in arrivals,” she said.

The DOT is pushing for a higher branding budget after it was cut by about 90 percent from PHP1.2 billion pre-pandemic to PHP100 million in 2025.

“We wish to emphasize and we plead for this House’s understanding that while we have devoted blood, sweat, and tears to the success of this industry, we simply cannot perform as well as we would like if we are given such meager resources as we have,” Frasco said.

Meanwhile, she defended the drop in South Korean tourist arrivals, saying this phenomenon is not isolated only to the Philippines.

The DOT, she said, has observed similar decline in major Southeast Asian destinations such as Singapore (-2 percent), Thailand (-17 percent), Cambodia (-7 percent), and Vietnam (-2 percent).

South Korea is the country’s top source market for international visitors, accounting for 1,574,152 arrivals and contributing around USD2.3 billion to the national economy in 2024.

As of Sept. 1, the Philippines has received over 880,000 South Korean visitors. (PNA)