“I am happy with revenge tourism because people want to travel and spend money, they make purchases, which is good for the economy.”
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, BSP Deputy Governor
Former Tourism chief and now Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is optimistic about continuous economic recovery with the current upward trend in “revenge tourism.”
“I am happy with revenge tourism because people want to travel and spend money, they make purchases, which is good for the economy,” Puyat said in a recent interview.
“Revenge tourism” was observed post-pandemic where people were motivated to travel after being confined to their homes during the height of the health crisis.
“The way we’re seeing it, the economy is alive unlike before when I was the only tourist due to the frequent lockdowns,” she said.
Puyat said the Monetary Board and the BSP want more tourism stakeholders to shift to digital transactions since it is not only fast but also efficient and safe.
She noted that more local government units (LGUs) and other stakeholders in the business sector are adopting the Paleng-QR program of the BSP which is part of the financial inclusion program of the government.
The Paleng-QR program encourages online payment for goods and services.
Last year, the country breached its 1.7-million tourist target with 2.65 million international arrivals as of the end-December.
The arrivals translated to P208.96 billion or $3.68 billion in tourism revenues, a whopping 2,465.75-percent increase from 2021 figures.
Based on the monitoring of the Department of Tourism from the time the country reopened its borders to all travelers in February until Dec. 31, 2022, arrivals peaked in December as more Filipinos and tourists alike opted to spend the Christmas and New Year vacations in the Philippines.
Of the total 2.65 million international arrivals last year, 628,445 were returning Filipinos while the bulk of 2.02 million tourists were from top markets United States (505,089), South Korea (428,014), Australia (137,974), Canada (121,413), the United Kingdom (101,034), Japan (99,557), Singapore (53,448), India (51,542), Malaysia (46,805) and China (39,627).
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco expressed elation over the achievements of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
She said the tourism sector’s growth clearly showed the hard work of the entire industry in order to recover from the unprecedented crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Moments of great difficulty are also moments of great opportunity. In the past, we have overcome a global pandemic and survived various calamities. The Philippine tourism industry has managed to exceed expectations and our tourism partners and frontliners continue to offer the best of Filipino grace and hospitality to the world,” Frasco said in a statement.
“We look forward to the continued convergence and collaboration of our tourism stakeholders—travelers, tourism players, national agencies, local government units and host communities—in propelling our industry to the heights of becoming a tourism powerhouse in Asia,” Frasco said.