THE SHARE of the tourism industry in the Philippine economy rose to a five-year high of 8.9% in 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.

Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) — an indicator of the economic contribution from tourism-related activities — jumped by 11.2% year on year to P2.35 trillion last year, preliminary data from the PSA showed.

However, TDGVA growth was slower than the 49.9% surge logged in 2023 and the slowest annual growth since the 10.3% expansion in 2020.

Despite the slower growth, the share of TDGVA to the economy rose to 8.9% in 2024, the highest share since the 12.9% recorded in 2019.

By industry, country-specific tourism characteristics goods – shopping accounted for 21.8% of the total with P512.68 billion. It was followed by miscellaneous services (20.2% share or P476.23 billion) and accommodation services for visitors (18.4% share or P432.9 billion).

Domestic tourism expenditure, which includes resident visitors’ spending within the country on a domestic trip or as part of an international trip, grew by 16.4% to P3.16 trillion last year.

Outbound tourism spending reached P345.68 billion in 2024, rising by 37.5% from P251.35 billion in 2023.

Inbound tourism expenditure, meanwhile, inched up by 0.4% annually to P699.99 billion.

Total employment in the tourism sector grew by 6.1% to 6.75 million in 2024. Tourism accounted for 13.8% of the total jobs in the country in 2024.

The majority of the tourism-related jobs were centered on miscellaneous activities. The health and wellness sector employed 1.83 million, accounting for a 27.1% share.

The accommodation and food and beverage sector had 1.69 million workers (25% share), while passenger transport had 1.67 million workers (24.7%).

Reinielle Matt M. Erece, an economist at Oikonomiya Advisory and Research, Inc. said easing inflation helped boost tourism spending last year.

“Lower inflation relative to 2023 and better economic conditions in the country may have encouraged tourists due to better prices,” he said in an e-mail.

Inflation averaged 3.2% in 2024, cooling from the 15-year high of 6% in 2023.

Last year, the Department of Tourism recorded 5.95 million visitor arrivals, falling short of its 7.7 million target.

“While Philippine tourism has made substantial progress — particularly in revenue generation — it hasn’t achieved full recovery in terms of visitor numbers, and the pace of recovery appears to be slowing in early 2025,” Leonardo A. Lanzona, Jr., an economics professor in Ateneo de Manila University, said in an e-mail.

Mr. Erece is optimistic that tourist numbers will improve this year.

“The strong domestic economy can also be a positive factor in improving local economies and their respective tourism potential,” he said. — LPQB