Tourism contributed 5.4 pct to Philippine economy in 2020

MANILA, June 16– Tourism industries contributed a mere 5.4 percent to the Philippine economy in 2020 following the COVID-19 lockdown that barred foreign tourists and shut down domestic tourism, the Philippines Statistics Authority said on Wednesday. As measured by the share of tourism direct gross value added to the gross domestic product, the PSA said the…

MANILA, June 16 (Xinhua) — Tourism industries contributed a mere 5.4 percent to the Philippine economy in 2020 following the COVID-19 lockdown that barred foreign tourists and shut down domestic tourism, the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday.

As measured by the share of tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) to the gross domestic product, the PSA said the TDGVA amounted to 973.31 billion pesos (about 20.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, lower by 61.2 percent compared with the 2.51 trillion pesos (about 52 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019.

TDGVA serves as the indicator to measure the value-added of different industries in relation to tourism activities of both inbound and domestic visitors.

“All forms of tourism expenditures posted downturns in 2020,” PSA Head Dennis Mapa said in a statement.

Mapa said inbound tourism expenditure declined by 77.9 percent, while domestic tourism expenditure was 82.3 percent, and outbound tourism expenditure was 73.2 percent.

Internal tourism expenditure, comprising inbound and domestic tourism expenditure, decreased by 81.6 percent, he added.

Mapa said employment in tourism characteristic industries declined in 2020.

He added employment in tourism characteristic industries was estimated at 4.68 million in 2020, lower by 18.1 percent compared with 5.72 million in 2019.

Mapa said the share of employment in tourism industries to total employment in the country was recorded at 11.9 percent.

According to PSA data, tourism industries contributed 12.3 percent to the Philippine economy in 2018 and 12.8 percent in 2019. Enditem