The Department of Tourism (DoT) is intensifying its focus on domestic tourism as rising airfare costs linked to tensions in the Middle East threaten to make overseas travel more expensive, with its newly launched “Discover More to Love” campaign already generating more than P100,000 in sales days after its rollout.

Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay said the campaign is designed to stimulate local travel demand by offering discounted tourism packages and promotions while supporting an industry that derives a significant portion of its revenues from domestic travelers.

“After the announcement, [‘Discover More to Love’ has gained] more than P100,000,” Angara-Mathay told reporters on Monday.

The figure was reported by the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association, one of the campaign’s participating industry partners. The DoT noted that several other tourism stakeholders are also part of the initiative.

Launched on 26 June, “Discover More to Love” seeks to encourage Filipinos to explore destinations across the country through discounted offers from hotels, tour operators, airlines and other tourism-related businesses.

The campaign features more than 3,000 travel deals nationwide and serves as a centralized marketplace for tourism products and services from accredited establishments.

Angara-Mathay said the initiative comes at a time when international travel is becoming more costly because of higher airfare prices driven by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and concerns over disruptions in global fuel supply routes.

“The airlines cannot put the prices down because 80 percent of their cost is fuel,” she said.

“We cannot control those external factors, but we can influence what happens domestically. The good thing about ‘Discover More to Love’ is that the entire industry is coming together,” she added.

The tourism chief said domestic tourism remains a major growth driver for the sector and contributes substantially more revenue than international visitor arrivals.

“Domestic tourism is four times what we earn from foreign travelers. If you look at the composition of how much the industry earns, domestic tourism contributes a lot. That's where we find the low-hanging fruits,” Angara-Mathay said.

The DoT has identified domestic travelers and balikbayans as priority markets as it seeks to sustain tourism growth, support local enterprises and generate more tourism spending within the country.

According to the agency, domestic tourism supported about 7.7 million jobs and generated roughly P3 trillion in revenue in 2025, underscoring its importance to the broader economy.