The Philippines Records the 4th Fastest Growing Tourism Economy in the World 

If Holy Week was any indication, travel is finally bouncing back. According to the latest Economic Impact Report (EIR) from The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the Philippines’ travel and tourism contribution to the economy is considered the fourth fastest-growing travel economy in the world in 2021. 

After prolonged lockdown grounded flights and plunged the economy into a recession, Philippine tourism appears to be on the mend based on the latest data from the EIR. 

Philippine tourism’s economic contribution was able to climb by a whopping 129.5 percent in 2021, contributing about $41 billion to the economy, equal to 10.4 percent of the national GDP. While this is still far from pre-pandemic levels, the data signals that Philippine tourism is quickly bouncing back.

Before the pandemic hit, the Philippines’ travel and tourism sector contributed 22.5 percent to the national GDP. This amounted to about $92.6 billion in 2019, which dropped by an alarming 80.7 percent in 2020 when the lockdown began. The tourism sector only contributed $17.8 billion or 4.8 percent toward the national GDP that year, while millions in the industry lost their jobs. 

With the massive growth of the tourism sector in 2021, Filipinos in the hospitality and tourism industry were able to once again find jobs after experiencing massive layoffs in 2020. According to the EIR, the Philippine tourism sector now supports over 7.8 million jobs, which is a 20.5 percent increase from 2020 numbers. 

This puts the Philippines’ growth in tourism jobs well above the global average of 6.7 percent.  Jobs are expected to only increase over the next 10 years as WTTC forecasts that over three million jobs will be created in the tourism sector. 

Based on the EIR’s insights, things are finally looking up for the Philippine travel sector as the WTTC predicts that the industry’s economic contributions will grow by 6.7 percent over the next 10 years. This suggests that the tourism economy could potentially grow more than the overall estimated GDP growth rate of 5.6 percent. 

The Philippines’ travel and tourism sector is expected to contribute over $155 billion to the economy by 2032, which is approximately 21.4 percent of the projected GDP and well above pre-pandemic levels. 

“Our latest EIR for the Philippines signals the astonishing recovery of the country’s Travel & Tourism sector, resulting in a massive employment boost for the sector, leading to the recovery of 1.3 million more jobs compared to the previous year,” said Julia Simpson, president and CEO of WTTC. 

“Our expert analysis shows that the economy has turned a corner and is firmly on the road to recovery.”