The Philippines only earned an estimated P81.4 billion in tourism revenue from January to December last year, as the ban on inbound international travel remains, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat reported Tuesday.  

The tourism chief said due to entry restrictions, the country received only 1,323,956 foreign visitors from January to December 2020, a decline of 83.97 percent from the 8,260,913 arrivals in the same period in 2019. 

“Total receipts generated from inbound tourism for January to December 2020 registered an  estimated P81.40 billion, a decrease of 83.12 percent from the visitor receipts of P482.16 billion recorded in the same period last year,” Puyat said during the Department’s late year-end report press conference with the media. 

With the massive losses incurred by the COVID-19 crisis, the tourism chief reiterated that domestic tourism will continue to be the main strategy to reboot Philippine tourism.

“The DOT  and TPB (Tourism Promotions Board) will spearhead product diversification and enhancement activities with the regions and LGUs (local government units),” she said, citing that they have already created a task force in July composed of agency heads and undersecretaries of the Department to focus on the revival of domestic tourism. 

Puyat also noted that entry protocols will need to be further strengthened amid fears of the new COVID-19 variant. 

“On our part, the continued development of health and safety guidelines for the operations of other tourism enterprises and activities will be prioritized to ensure the well-being of visitors and workers as well as help improve the readiness of destinations to reopen for business,” she added. 

Asked if there are local governments that expressed willingness to reopen their destinations soon, she said: “La Union will reopen soon."

“(But) the reopening of local destinations is a decision that will continue to be made by the LGUs. The DOT will help LGUs that have declared their readiness to accept tourists,” she added, citing that there is also a need to standardize travel protocols and requirements and encourage further movement of local tourists. 

Package tours will also be recommended to destinations with limited health facilities. 

Whenever feasible, she said the Philippines is willing to tie up with neighboring ASEAN countries first for the creation of travel bubbles with the main consideration of proximity.

But this would demand the strict enforcement of health and safety protocols at the destination countries. 

“The entry of Balikbayans before the travel ban has served as a dry-run to the potential travel bubble with nearby countries,” she said. 

Meanwhile, the DOT will also recalibrate the tourism targets under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2016-2022, the blueprint of the national government’s tourism goals, amid the impact of the ongoing global health crisis. 

This will be realigned with the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Ambisyon 2040 and Philippine Development Plan.