Philippines improves ranking in global tourism index

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is one of the tourism markets that have grown the most in the past seven years as it ranks 13th among 185 countries in the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)’s Travel and Tourism Power Rankings.

In the report, the Philippines ranked 13th with an overall score of 19.75, mainly driven by its large contribution to its gross domestic product (GDP) and high domestic market spending.

This rankings report is based on absolute growth as seen between 2011 and 2017 for four of our main travel and tourism indicators: total travel and tourism GDP, foreign visitor spending (visitor exports), domestic spending and travel and tourism capital investment. 

“The overall ranking is derived by calculating the average (equally-weighted) rank of all four constituent indicators,” the WTTC said.

Similarly, Philippines was also a top performer in the WTTC’s Travel and Tourism Performance ranking, which measures the compounded annual growth in the same period, ranking 15th with an overall score of 30.0.

Based on the GDP rank indicator, the Philippines placed 8th in the Power index and ranked 7th in the performance index.

The Philippines Travel and Tourism Sector raked in $66.3 billion in 2017, accounting for 21.1 percent of the country’s GDP.

“Earning an additional $36.5 billion and growing at an annual rate of 14.2 percent over the seven years, the Philippines is the only country in the top 10 in both power and performance rankings,”the WTTC said.

Meanwhile, in the domestic spending indicator, the country ranked 3rd in the Performance Index.

“The Philippines, which also was placed sixth in the power rankings of domestic spending ($26.2 billion), had the third highest annual growth rate (15.2 percent) of all 185 countries,” the WTTC said.

In contrast, for the international visitor spending indicator, the Philippines only ranked 21st in the Power index and 23rd in the Performance Index.

Despite its high GDP contribution and strong domestic market, the Philippines’ ranking in the Investment index remained low placing 44th in the Power index and 87th in the Performance Index.

WTTC president and chief executive officer Gloria Guevara said the report shows that growth in the global travel and tourism market is driven by strong travel facilitation policies, sustainable and proactive planning, and robust infrastructures that can withstand crises. 

“WTTC recognises countries who have worked strategically to capitalise on the economic benefits of the travel and tourism sector and realise opportunities for continued growth,” Guevara said.

“To this end, we invite government, policymakers and industry leaders to share their case studies with us as part of WTTC’s new recognition program, which will identify proven methods for success and promote best practice across the globe,”Guevara added.

China ranked 1st in the Power report, followed by the USA, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

In contrast, Myanmar secured the top spot in the Performance rankings. This is followed by Iraq, Georgia, Rwanda and Iceland.