The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) jointly conducted the 2021 Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts (PTSA) and Tourism Statistics Online Dissemination Forum on 28 June 2022 via Zoom Video Conferencing. The event was participated by officials and representatives from various government agencies, local tourism officers, academe, media, and tourism stakeholders, both national and regional agencies. The forum served as a platform to present the contribution of tourism to the economy and the tourism statistics reports. It also served as an avenue to solicit suggestions and recommendations for the improvement of data collection and compilation of tourism accounts and statistics in the new normal.

The event was graced by Undersecretary Edwin R. Enrile, Officer-in-Charge of DOT, who welcomed the participants and encouraged them to share their insights and suggestions for the enhancement of tourism statistics  and for the rise of tourism towards recovery in the Philippines.

The Keynote Message by Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, the National Statistician and Civil Registrar General of the PSA, highlighted the contribution of tourism to the Philippine economy as well as its role and importance in creating opportunities and generating employment for Filipinos. He also shared the initiatives towards the compilation of subnational Tourism Satellite Accounts which the PSA - Cordillera Administrative Region is currently updating. He shared the PSA’s next plan for the compilation of tourism accounts for other regions starting this year until 2025.

One of the highlights was the presentation of the 2021 Philippine Tourism Statistics by Director Warner M. Andrada of DOT.  It was followed by a video presentation on DOT’s data collection and processing of information to generate tourism statistics in the new normal. DOT informed about its joint partnership with PSA in the conduct of the 2022 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors for the generation of baseline data on domestic and outbound tourism. Future work for the improvement of tourism statistics in terms of data management through the establishment of an information system and GIS dashboard was also presented.

Assistant National Statistician Vivian R. Ilarina of PSA presented the results of the 2021 PTSA, which provides the contribution of tourism to the Philippine economy. She also shared basic information on tourism and initiatives undertaken by PSA for the compilation of tourism accounts. Meanwhile, Dr. Carlos P. Dela Reyna, Jr. of the Bureau of Quarantine provided an overview on the One Health Pass (OHP), which is an online tool for border surveillance allowing safer travel to the country amidst the pandemic. He emphasized that OHP is a fully integrated system that allows incoming tourists to view their quarantine certificates and laboratory results.

The panel discussion and open forum were facilitated by Dr. Maria Cherry Lyn S. Rodolfo, with Director Andrada, Assistant National Statistician Ilarina, and Dr. Dela Reyna Jr. as resource persons. The significant contribution of tourism as an industry of national importance and the indications of economic recovery were highlighted during the discussion. The monitoring of tourism sustainability indicators at the local destination was also emphasized in addition to the tourism economic contribution. Lastly, it was shared that the implementation of OHP would benefit  the data collection and generation of tourism statistics.

In closing, Undersecretary Woodrow Maquiling Jr. shared that DOT is committed to ensure the uninterrupted generation of reliable and accurate reports and to explore other opportunities for the formulation of new indicators such as tourism competitiveness, resiliency, and productivity. He expressed DOT’s support in measuring subnational and sustainable tourism towards achieving inclusive growth.

Dr. Maria Cherry Lyn S. Rodolfo of Asian Institute of Management (AIM) served as the master of ceremonies of the forum and the moderator during the panel discussion.

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General