MANILA, Philippines – The number of overseas Filipinos who visited the Philippines last year dropped six percent to 203,612 from 215,943 in 2012 data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed.
A DOT official, who requested anonymity, said there has been a noted drop in the volume of inbound overseas Filipinos or balikbayans since February last year.
“We cannot actually pinpoint what caused the drop in the number of overseas Filipinos who visited the country last year. But with all the calamities that we had last year, most probably some of these Filipinos have opted to just donate their travel fund to the victims,” the official said.
The DOT exec, however, said there have been continuous efforts to lure more Filipinos, particularly those holding Philippine passports but are permanently living abroad, to frequently visit the country.
“Our Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) has Pinoy Homecoming Porgrams,” the source noted.
Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said they hope to engage more Filipinos in appreciating the value of tourism in the country’s inclusive growth agenda and encourage them to take an active role in growing the industry by being better hosts to both local and foreign tourists.
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He said the DOT continues to further boost the potential of the tourism industry as a major economic driver, specially as the country is in the middle of rebuilding and moving forward from recent natural disasters.
In 2013, total foreign tourist arrivals went up nine percent to 4.7 million from 2012’s 4.3 million. This was, however, short of the five-million target for the year.
The DOT earlier adjusted the domestic travelers target for 2016 to 56.1 million from 35.5 million as it intensifies efforts of promoting inclusive growth which is expected to directly and indirectly affect the tourism sector.
The tourism sector directly employed an estimated 3.8 million individuals in 2011, a 3.5 percent increase from an estimated 3.7 million in 2010.
It also contributed P571.3 billion or 5.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, 10.2 percent higher than the P518.5 billion or 5.8-percent contribution to GDP in 2010.
The industry targets an 8.7-percent GDP share in 2016. The target, however, is still below the average share of tourism to the global economy of 9.3 percent and Southeast Asian economy of 11 percent in 2012.
