The tourism industry will become lucrative for Filipinos, as Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco sees that workers in the industry will balloon to 34 million, aired during Frasco's participation at the 10th edition of the Global Tourism Economy Forum or GETF in Macao Special Administrative Region on Friday.

"The Philippines envisions itself becoming the tourism powerhouse in Asia. A few years down the road, by 2028, we foresee that tourism would have been able to employ a total of over 34 million Filipinos in the country. After all, the end all and be a benefit of our countrymen," said the DoT chief, pertaining to the data on tourism employment from 2023 to 2028 released by the Department of Labor and Employment-National Labor and Employment Plan of 2028.

She also noted during the panel the importance of the Philippines' whole-of-nation approach toward tourism development by also capitalizing on other aspects of tourism equally.

"With our President's whole-of-nation approach towards tourism development, with an eye for sustainability, we envision that this will allow the Philippines to occupy a primary position in Asia, especially considering that what we wish to do is not only to further develop our nature and beach destinations–we are, after all, currently the world's leading beach and dive destination– but also to approach a multidimensional tourism component to our development. That means capitalizing well on the story of the Philippines, our heritage, our culture, and the work of our indigenous peoples and, overall, it is this comprehensive approach towards tourism development that we foresee would allow our country to have a sustainable tourism development in time to come," she said.

Sustainability efforts

Also during the forum, Frasco shared the Philippine government's sustainability efforts for tourism and, at the same time, her bold prospects for the industry

"The Philippines is home to one of the longest coastlines in the world, as well as 70 to 80% of the Earth's biodiversity. We are one of the most mega-biodiverse countries in the world and home to 10% of the world's marine protected area," she said.

"Sustainability and tourism have been an absolute necessity and the driving force of development for our country. As early as 2009 with the passage of the law that created the Tourism Act, sustainable tourism was identified by our government as being integral to our socio-economic development, and therefore, that has been the guiding force towards the programs and plans for the development of our tourism industry," the tourism chief added.

With the approved National Tourism Development Plan 2023-2028, she said that the approach for the country's tourism blueprint was crafted from a sustainability standpoint incorporated under a seven-point agenda by which the DOT is currently operating at present.
The GTEF is a leading international exchange platform designed to promote the sustainable development of the global tourism sector.

This year's edition is hosted by the Secretariat of Economy and Finance of the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region, in collaboration with the UNWTO, and co-organized by the Macao Government Tourism Office and the China Chamber of Tourism and coordinated by the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre.