Domestic tourism leading the industry in times of uncertainty
As several international borders remain closed for foreign travelers for much of 2020 and 2021, the Philippine tourism department focused on boosting domestic tourism to ease the impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector. Together with the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), these agencies spearheaded the “It’s More Fun with You” campaign to encourage Filipinos to travel locally to boost the sector’s recovery. Focusing on sustainable tourism development models, the campaign successfully accelerated the demand for domestic tourism in 2021, although it remains just a quarter of the total trips recorded during the pre-pandemic period. Meanwhile, domestic tourism expenditures, especially for miscellaneous services and shopping, have recovered in 2022.In comparison, inbound tourism posed significant improvements in 2022, from the lowest tourist arrivals recorded in the previous year. The United States and South Korea accounted for the highest share of foreign tourist arrivals which reached over two million in the current year. Consequently, inbound tourism expenditures has shown exponential growth of more than a thousand percent from the previous year.
