… similar findings, however scanty, may have a grain of truth to it.
Tourism is one major sector that could help the country achieve its goal to create an inclusive economy.
Tourism directly generates jobs, especially in remote and exotic destinations that both local and foreign travelers want to venture into. The poor and socially disadvantaged groups can have fair and equitable access to market opportunities in tourist spots—as workers and small entrepreneurs.
Every government is doing its best to promote tourism and make the experience of travelers worthwhile. But when a negative travel advisory on the Philippines is circulated, the job of tourism promotion gets harder.
Adverse publicity on tourism will wreak havoc on the efforts of the hotel industry, airline sector and the official agency in charge of promoting travel to the Philippines.
Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla created a firestorm last week when he seemed to echo recent travel advisories and an international online survey naming the Philippines the “least safe” country for tourists.
“People do not want to come to the country because they don’t feel safe. They are afraid. There is cynicism in all the bad news that goes on here, and in the political atmosphere, and killing seems an ordinary activity [so] people become afraid,” says Remulla before a marketing conference.
The local tourism sector naturally did not take Remulla’s remark lightly.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco denounced the “HelloSafe Safety Index 2025” as “built on questionable data, lacking in transparency, and entirely disconnected from realities on the ground.”
She countered that the Philippines remains committed to ensuring the safety and satisfaction of both domestic and international travelers.
Industry leaders echoed her concern. Arthur Lopez, president of the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA), warned that such rankings—and worse, official admissions that appear to support them—could undo years of hard work in rebuilding tourism to post-pandemic conditions.
“The HelloSafe report is misleading, unfair and detrimental to the efforts of the tourism and hospitality industry,” Lopez said. “We fully support Secretary Frasco’s call to set the record straight.”
The HelloSafe Safety Index 2025 report may have been biased or not transparent. But its report and similar findings, however scanty, may have a grain of truth to it.
Recent incidents involving the murders of two Korean tourists and the kidnapping of one may have been isolated cases and did not reflect the overall security situation in the Philippines.
But the negative incidents grabbed newspaper headlines in South Korea, the leading source of foreign investors in the Philippines. The adverse publicity, albeit temporarily, may have deterred prospective Korean visitors in the early part of the year.
Ms Frasco recognized the gravity of the situation. “Anyone who harms a tourist must be held fully accountable. Such incidents affect not just individuals, but the entire economy. Tourism supports millions of livelihoods, and we must protect it,” she says.
South Korea in 2024 was the Philippines’ leading source market with 1.57 million arrivals, contributing about $2.3 billion to the economy.
Rising contribution
The economic contribution of the tourism sector in the Philippines cannot be understated
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the share of tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) to the gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices reached 8.9 percent last year.
The TDGVA amounted to P2.35 trillion in 2024, up from P2.12 trillion in 2023, based on the Tourism Satellite Account.
These contributions include accommodation services, food and beverage serving services, transport services, travel agencies and other reservation services, entertainment and recreation services, country-specific tourism characteristic goods (shopping) and miscellaneous services.
Among the forms of tourism expenditures, outbound tourism expenditure posted the highest annual growth of 37.5 percent, amounting to P345.68 billion in 2024.
It was followed by domestic tourism expenditure, which grew16.4 percent from P2.71 trillion in 2023 to P3.16 trillion in 2024.
Employment in tourism industries was estimated at 6.75 million in 2024, up by 6.1 percent from 6.37 million in 2023.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or extrastory2000@gmail.com
