President Marcos has approved the recommendations of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) to enhance efforts to boost the tourism industry following the signing into law of the VAT Refund for Non-Resident Tourists.

During their meeting in Malacañan on Wednesday, Dec. 11, Marcos said the PSAC's recommendations were "significant initiatives" to attract more tourists to the Philippines.

One of PSAC’s key recommendations is launching the nationwide "Shopping Festival Philippines" to coincide with the upcoming New Year’s celebrations. This incentivizes international visitors, encourages higher spending, and boosts tourism revenue.

"We’ve talked about this shopping festival. Again, I think it’s properly categorized as an easy win. So, we’ll do that," the President said.

On the other hand, President Marcos said he sees no major obstacles with the PSAC’s recommendation to ease visa access to AJACS (American, Japanese, Australian, Canadian, Schengen) and AJACSUK (American, Japanese, Australian, Canadian, Schengen, Singapore or UK) visa holders, noting the initiative was already “the first thing” on his agenda.

"I think we should stop messing around with this system. It’s so clear already. And again, it’s something that we don’t have to pilot because it has been done for us in many, many airports,” he said.

However, the recommendation must be carefully studied particularly in its security aspects.

Meanwhile, President Marcos directed a thorough review of the PSAC’s recommendation to enhance the immigration experience by introducing a digital identification system utilizing biometric data, such as facial recognition or fingerprint, to ensure seamless transactions and secure travel processing.

“It’s just a question really of putting the systems in and getting the hardware, and then slowly educating everybody how to use that hardware," he said.

"For me, it’s just a question of adopting the technology and learning how to use it. As I said, everybody else in the world is doing it already," he added.

Under the newly-signed VAT Refund Law or Republic Act (RA) No. 12079, tourists can claim a refund on the Value Added Tax for goods personally purchased at accredited retail outlets within 60 days, provided they meet a minimum transaction requirement of P3,000.

An estimated 30-percent increase in tourist spending is projected with the new law, benefitting both large-scale industries and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).