29th National Statistics Month to Focus on Tourism

The Regional Statistics Committee (RSC) encourages everyone to be part of the year’s celebration of the 29th National Statistics Month this October.

Aldrin Federico Bahit, Jr., chief, Statistical Operations and Coordination Division (SOCD) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in the region informed during the recent Technical Working Group meeting that the 29th NSM has for its theme, “Exploring Philippine Wonders in Numbers: Statistics Towards Sustainable Tourism Development.”

The theme reflects the relevance of statistics in achieving a sustainable and progressive tourism growth for the country. It also emphasizes the need for statistics to identify potential tourism havens and also areas which require intervention, Bahit said.

The country underwent a lot of changes over the years especially with the way people live their lives. One of the industries which has been greatly affected by these changes is tourism which is an important sector in the economy, he explained.

The Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts compiled by the PSA shows that the tourism industry contributed 12.2 percent to the Philippine economy in 2017 which is 24.2% higher than that of the previous year. Around 5.3 million people were employed in this industry for the same year.

Pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 647 signed by then President Corazon C. Aquino on September 20, 1990, the month of October of every year was declared as National Statistics Month.

In the Cordillera region, the NSM opening program will be on October 4 that will feature a video showing of PSA statistics/civil registration and a kapihan forum.

For more information on the lined-up NSM activities, please visit the RDC-CAR and PSA-CAR websites.

The RSC is chaired by NEDA-CAR Director Milagros A. Rimando with Director Villafe Alibuyog of the PSA-CAR as vice-chair. (JDP/MAWC- PIA CAR)