PSA Recognizes Tourism’s Share in Economy
With this year’s theme, “Exploring Philippine Wonders in Numbers: Statistics Towards Sustainable Tourism Development,” the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is spearheading the celebration of the 29th National Statistics Month (NSM) this October.
“The celebration is to promote, enhance and instill awareness and appreciation of the importance and value of statistics to the different sectors of society,” shared Noel Rafols, Information Officer of PSA-7.
The National Statistics Month was formally opened on October 2, 2018 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila, sponsored by the Department of Tourism.
The celebration recognizes the contribution of tourism in the country’s economic development and it also emphasizes the importance of statistics in determining tourism growth as well as potential tourism havens.
In 2017, the tourism industry recorded 12.2 percent share in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) with 5.3M total employment.
Foreign visitors grew by 11 percent reaching 6.6M arrivals compared to 2016’s 5.96 million.
Rafols added that before going abroad “we must look back first to what our country has to offer.”
In Central Visayas alone, there are a lot of tourist destinations stretching from north to south of the region.
He cited that in the recent years, CV always has the greatest influx of foreign tourists, even hitting 6.9 M arrivals last year.
Bohol and Cebu ranked 6th and 7th , respectively, as most visited places by domestic tourists.
PSA, in collaboration with Commission on Higher Education, will hold the following contests: 1) Kwentong Stats, a short story writing competition promoting the country’s tourism; 2) Poster-making, where contestants should make an infographic revolving around the theme; and 3) Digital shorts, a short filmmaking contest where contestants should produce a 3 to 5-minute film showing on how statistics is used in promoting sustainable tourism. (HFG with report from Bridgette May Bayhon/PIA7)
