President Marcos has encouraged the Department of Tourism and all stakeholders to work together in order to reintroduce the beauty of the Philippines to the world.
Speaking at the Philippine Tourism Industry Convergence Reception in Pasay City on Monday, Oct. 17, Marcos stressed that the country must bank on its assets to allow its tourism industry to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.
He believes that tourism can drive the country's social and economic recoveries, considering the natural beauty the Philippines has.
"We have been so lucky to be born to such beautiful people. And that’s why immediately I said that this is something that we can show to the world," he said.
"We must immediately do all that we can to make sure that these assets that the Philippines has must be used to bring jobs to people, good jobs to people, to bring visitors to our country, to once again as we have said during the trips that we have taken these past few weeks, to reintroduce the Philippines to the world and that I think is what we will be trying to do," he added.
The President cited development and accessibility of the country's tourism sites as key interventions to achieve this.
In his speech, he also committed that his administration will optimize the Department of Tourism's (DOT) inputs to further improve the country's tourism sector in the post-pandemic era.
Marcos lauded the DOT specifically for the listening tours it conducted with all its stakeholders, which, he said, aim to address the biggest concerns in the industry and to understand the perspective of those who are on the ground.
"Allow me to repeat that under this administration, the government will remain committed to ensuring that the inputs that you have acquired from your listening tours will be optimized for the benefit of the sector," he said.
The President further said that "the avenues that have opened for all regions will be instrumental not only in formulating the best policies but also in determining better practices and the best projects in the industry."
He expressed hopes that the event, which gathers various stakeholders in the sector and representatives from related industries and businesses, will produce concrete plans for the tourism sector.
"It is my hope that this reception will foster a meaningful discourse and yield concrete plans that we can immediately put into action," he said.
"It is my desire that genuine and sincere collaborations such as this will be part of this activity. I wish that initiatives for greater tourism, connectivity and convenience will be pursued after this event and I know that it will because I agree, and I know that I have spoken to many of you that we are together and of like mind when we think that this is what we would like to achieve for our people," he added.
He encouraged the DOT and all its stakeholders to continue their "great start" in pursuing progress for the industry for the benefit of Filipinos and the country.