Tourism’s GDP share up 12.7% in 2018

TOURISM managed to contribute 12.7 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018, up 0.5 percent from 12.2 percent the year before, despite the six-month closure of Boracay island last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data from the state-run statistics agency — which were provided by the Department of Tourism — showed that the Tourism Direct Gross Value Added hit P2.2 trillion last year, a 14.3-percent increase from 2017’s P1.9 trillion; and domestic tourism expenditure rose by 21 percent to P3.2 trillion in 2017 from P2.6 trillion a year earlier.