The Philippines Among World’s Best in the Travel Industry

Solidifying its status as one of the top performing countries in the tourism industry today, the Philippines ranked 13th and 15th in the 2018 Power and Performance Rankings of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), respectively.

The report, shared in late September 2018, evaluated a total of 185 countries in their tourism growth size and speed between 2011 and 2017. The Philippines’ overall score was mostly determined by its contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and domestic spending, two of the four indicators in the assessment. The other two being the international visitor spend or visitors’ export and capital investment.

The Power ranking category looks at which countries grew most during the seven-year period. The list is led by China, followed by the United States, India, Mexico, United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Canada, Indonesia and Australia and United Arab Emirates (tied). The Philippines shares its 13th spot with Malaysia.

On the other hand, the Performance ranking looks at the countries that grew the fastest during the same period. These top-performing countries, according to the WTTC, capitalises on “opportunities that tourism can bring as a tool for development”. Myanmar topped the list, followed by Iraq, Georgia, Rwanda, Iceland, Nicaragua, Qatar, Congo, Armenia and Ivory Coast.

The Philippines’ latest accomplishment proves that the country is indeed one to watch out for in the years to come. In her statement at the Ministerial Round Table of Tourism EXPO 2018 in September, Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat shared that the Philippines is already ahead by five years in terms of its targets in domestic tourism. In fact, the country recorded 96.7 million domestic tourist arrivals for 2017. Meanwhile, international arrivals reached 6.62 million in the same year.

Also read: DOT Announces Increase in Philippine Tourist Arrivals