By Brian Jules Campued
The Philippines recorded a net trade surplus of US$2.45 billion in travel services last year—a first in 15 years, according to Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco.
Having a trade surplus means that international visitors to the Philippines spend more than what Filipino travelers spend abroad.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Tourism (DOT) cited preliminary full-year data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showing that the country achieved more than US$100 billion in export of goods and services.
Aside from the net trade surplus, travel services export receipts also reached US$9.1 billion—”more than double the level in 2022 and constitutes 93.2% of 2019 travel export receipts level,” DOT said.
Based on the BSP report, travel services in 2023 contributed an impressive 18.9% share to the country’s total service exports of US$48.28 billion.
Frasco welcomed said “another record” for the tourism industry, calling it as a testament to the collective efforts and dedication of stakeholders in making the Philippines as a tourism powerhouse in Asia under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
“We welcome the latest numbers from the BSP report which sets an optimistic tone not just for the DOT, but to all our tourism stakeholders, and tourism leaders and shakers, even those who came before me, who have all worked tirelessly and shown nothing but resilience in the past difficult years,” she added.
The Tourism Chief likewise vowed to continue close coordination with the public and private sectors to achieve the government’s goals under the National Tourism Development Plan 2023 to 2028.
“As we continue to work towards achieving our targets for 2024 and the years to come, we endeavor to cement tourism’s position as a major economic pillar for the country,” Frasco said.
The Philippines welcomed 5.45 million foreign visitors in 2023, successfully breaching its year-end target of 4.8 million. – avds
