Tourism share to GDP slips to 8.1% in 2025

MANILA, Philippines —  The tourism sector’s contribution to the economy declined in 2025 due to lower spending by international visitors.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the share of tourism direct gross value-added or TDGVA to the economy stood at 8.1 percent last year, lower than the 8.7-percent  contribution recorded in 2024.

The TDGVA refers to the part of gross value-added generated by all industries (such as hotels, airlines and tour operators) of the economy that directly provide goods and services to visitors.

In terms of value, the tourism sector’s economic contribution amounted to P2.27 trillion last year, 1.4 percent lower than the P2.30 trillion in 2024.

The data is based on tourist spending in the country covering accommodation services, food and beverage, transport, travel agencies and reservation, entertainment and recreation, shopping and other services.

PSA data showed that inbound tourism expenditure declined by 6.4 percent to P698.46 billion last year from P745.99 billion in 2024.

On the other hand, outbound tourism expenditure went up by 3.5 percent to P357.93 billion in 2025 from the previous year’s P345.68 billion.

Domestic tourism expenditure rose by three percent to P3.26 trillion last year from P3.16 trillion in 2024.

Internal tourism expenditure, which covers both inbound and domestic tourism expenditures, grew by 1.2 percent to P3.96 trillion in 2025 from P3.91 trillion in 2024.

Despite tourism’s lower economic contribution last year, employment in the sector went up by 2.5 percent to 7.70 million from 7.51 million in 2024.

The tourism sector had a 15.7-percent share in the country’s total employment last year.

Philippine Institute for Development Studies senior research fellow John Paolo Rivera said in a Viber message that the tourism sector remains vulnerable to external shocks such as geopolitical tensions, fuel prices and global economic uncertainty.

“This highlights the need to strengthen tourism resilience through better connectivity, diversified tourism products, digitalization and higher-value tourism strategies rather than relying purely on volume growth,” he said.

For his part, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said in an email that the government’s move to allow visa-free entry for Chinese tourists staying up to 14 days, would help improve and increase the number of foreign tourists from China this year.

However, he said the sharp increase in jet fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict may limit foreign tourist arrivals.

He said that structural improvements in the country’s infrastructure are needed to help attract more foreign tourists.

“Bigger capacity of the country’s airports, accommodation facilities such as hotels and convention centers for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism business, mass transport system such as train systems that connect to the airport (the Metro Manila subway system is still under contruction) (are) among other factors that would further improve the convenience or travel experience of foreign tourists in the country,” Ricafort said.