National Tourism
Development Plan
2011-2016
The Office of Tourism Planning, Research and Information Management (OTPRIM), under the Office
of Tourism Planning and Promotions of the Department of Tourism was responsible for the
formulation of the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) as mandated under Republic Act
Number 9593. Using a stakeholder participative methodology, the Asia Pacific Projects, Inc. in
association with the Indra Philippines assisted the OTPRIM prepare the NTDP.
 2012 Philippine Department of Tourism
All rights reserved. Published 2012.
Printed in the Philippines
ISBN 978-971-91303-8-3
Philippine Department of Tourism
National Tourism Development Plan, 2011 – 2016
1. Philippine Department of Tourism. 2. National Tourism Development Planning
Philippine Department of Tourism
T. M. Kalaw Street, Ermita, Manila
Telephone Number: (63 2) 525-2928
Facsimile Number: (63 2) 526-7657
Website: www.tourism.gov.ph
Administrative Map of the Philippines
Source: NAMRIA
FOREWORD
Given our country’s comparative advantages in terms of natural and cultural tourism resources and
our position in the fastest growing tourism market in the world—the Asia Pacific Region—the
tourism sector should be a major contributor to our agenda of inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development. While the tourism sector remains relatively underdeveloped compared to
our neighbors in ASEAN due to a combination of infrastructure, fiscal, regulatory, and investment
challenges, we have the opportunity to take advantage of this “low hanging fruit” by effectively
addressing these challenges and taking advantage of the latest information technology to leverage
our people’s talent for networking to undertake aggressive international and domestic marketing
campaign that will firmly position the Philippines in the global tourism space.
Although Republic Act 9593 sets out a number of important initiatives that are currently being
implemented to improve the overall competitiveness of our tourism sector, a number of key
challenges remain to be addressed if the sector is to realize its full potential. These include making
it easier, more convenient, and less costly for our visitors to travel to and within our country;
providing a broader range of destinations and products pitched to our comparative advantage as a
tourist destination; distributing the benefits of tourism more widely so that our poorer populations
and disadvantaged groups such as women and indigenous groups can also benefit from tourism;
managing and minimizing the impacts of tourism on our cultural and natural heritage, and
minimizing tourism’s negative social impacts by protecting our vulnerable groups—particularly
women and children from exploitation.
It is within this context that the Department of Tourism has prepared the National Tourism
Development Plan that seeks to address the key challenges of the sector over the next five years.
The National Tourism Development Plan led by the Department of Tourism is the result of the
combined inputs of the national government agencies, local government units, the private sector
including the Chambers of Commerce, and concerned non-government organizations.
It is hoped that this National Tourism Development Plan will inspire all the sector stakeholders,
particularly in the tourism industry, to respond to the challenge of developing a truly unique
Philippine brand of tourism, a brand that will create many income opportunities in a wide range of
related industries, lift many from poverty, and help conserve our natural and cultural heritage
while minimizing negative social consequences.
RAMON R. JIMENEZ, JR.
Tourism Secretary
Table of Contents
Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................... iii
Philippines Tourism Fact Sheet ................................................................................................................................ vi
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................. vii
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
2 Overview of the Philippine Tourism Sector ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1 Tourism Assets .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.2 Tourism Access and Transportation Connectivity ...................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.3 Tourism Destinations, Facilities and Infrastructure .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.4 Tourism Education and Training Services and Programs .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.5 Institutional and Regulatory Framework..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.6 Tourism Market Growth Performance and Impact ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.7 Previous Tourism Strategies and Plans and Lessons Learned ................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.8 Key Issues and Challenges ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3 National Tourism Development Strategy .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.1 Principal Goal, Vision and Targets .. .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.2 Strategic Directions and Programs ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3 Detailed Programs and Sub-Programs .................................................................................................... 28
3.3.1 Programs for Developing and Marketing Competitive Products and Destinations …......28
3.3.2 Programs for Improving Market Access, Connectivity and Destination Infrastructure .................. 43
3.3.3 Programs for Improving Tourism Institutional, Governance and Human Resources .................... 47
4 Action Plan for Implementing the NTDP ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
5 Cost Estimates and Implementation Arrangements ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.1 Cost Estimates ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.2 Implementation Arrangements ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3 Financing Approach ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.4 Updating the Strategy and Road Map ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
6 Impact Evaluation .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.2 Economic Impact of the NTDP ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.2.1 GDP and Employment Effects......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.2.2 Poverty Reduction Effects ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.2.3 Investment Evaluation ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.3 Environmental and Social Impact Evaluation ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
List of Figures and Tables
FIGURES
Figure 1: Tourism Access and Trasportation Connectivity ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 2: Principal Airport for Domestic Flights ....................................................................................................... 4
Figure 3: National Road Classification .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4: Tourist Development AreaError! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 5: Strategic Directions and Programs ........................................................................................................ 27
Figure 6: Market Attractiveness – Competitiveness Matrix ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 7: Recommended Philippine Tourism Product Portfolio .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 8: Inclusive Destination Concept ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 9: Map of Cluster Destinations.................................................................................................................. 33
Figure 10: Principles of Vision Statement .............................................................................................................. 41
Figure 11: Proposed Tourism Institutional Governance and Management Framework .......................................... 49
Figure 12: NTDP Implementation Organization Arrangements .............................................................................. 65
TABLES
Table 1: Selected International Airport Terminal Utilization Rates, 2010 (in Millions) ............................................. 3
Table 2: Projected Supply of Accommodation Units, 2016 ...................................................................................... 5
Table 3: Major Tourism Infrastructure Projects ...................................................................................................... 11
Table 4: Forecast International Tourism Arrivals at Asia Pacific Sub-regions (in Millions) .................................... 17
Table 5: Economic Impact of Tourism, 2010 ......................................................................................................... 19
Table 6: Total Employment in the Philippines and Employment in Tourism Industries 2001-2010 ....................... 19
Table 7: SWOT Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 24
Table 8: Key Tourism Impact and Projections 2010—2016................................................................................... 26
Table 9: Additional Hotel and Resort Room Capacity Targets .............................................................................. 35
Table 10: Market-segmentation Mix Table............................................................................................................... 41
Table 11: Market Growth Targets 2011-2016 .......................................................................................................... 43
Table 12: Target International Arrivals/ Passenger in Cluster Gateways, 2016 ...................................................... 45
Table 13: Action Plan Summary Matrix.................................................................................................................... 54
Table 14: Summary of Initial Cost Estimates (in PhP ‘000) ..................................................................................... 63
Table 15: NTDP Executing and Implementing Agencies ......................................................................................... 64
Table 16: Proposed NTDP Financing Strategy ........................................................................................................ 66
Table 17: Economic Impact Indicators, 2011 – 2016 ............................................................................................... 68
Table 18: Economic Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 69
Table 19: Positive and Negative Impacts of Tourism Infrastructure Development and their Mitigation ................... 70
CHARTS
Chart 1:
Chart 2
Chart 3
Chart 4
Estimated Number of International Airline Seats Per Week Into Selected ASEAN Countries .................... 4
International Tourism Arrivals and Purpose of Visit .................................................................................. 15
Philippines Tourism Arrivals (2010) /CAGR’ 2011-2010 Matrix ................................................................ 16
Trends in ASEAN International Arrivals 2000-2010 .................................................................................. 17
Chart 5
Chart 6:
Chart 7:
Chart 8:
Domestic Tourism Volume and Expenditure Trends................................................................................. 18
Main Purpose of Domestic Travel ............................................................................................................. 18
Comparison of Philippines as a Destination Against Thailand and Indonesia .......................................... 23
Target Market Share of Outbound Travel from Key Markets (2010 and 2016) ......................................... 43
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A- Product Portfolio Development by Cluster Destination ....................................................................... 73
Appendix B- Priority Cluster Destination Development Profiles ............................................................................... 81
Appendix C- Actions to Boost International Tourism Capacity of Key Philippine International
Airports 2011-2016 .................................................................................................................................................. 92
PHILIPPINE TOURISM FACT SHEET
Key Variable
Statistics
1. Tourism Volumes
 3.9 million international arrivals in 2011 up by 11% from 3.5 million in
2010. The 2010 arrivals generated 4.6 million separate overnight visits to
destinations in the Philippines, of which 4.1 million arrivals stayed in
commercial tourist accommodation establishments.
 27.9 million domestic travelers in 2010 generating 111.6 million trips with
54.9 million tourists using tourist accommodation establishments.
2. Tourism Profile
International Tourist:
 61.5% from Asia Pacific Region, 44.4% from East Asia, 8.5% from ASEAN
countries, 5.8% from Oceania, 1.5% from South Asia, and 1.4% from M.E.
 Top Source Markets: Korea 21%, USA 17%, Japan 10%, China 5%, Australia
4%, Taiwan 4%, Hong Kong 4%, Singapore 3%.
 Main Purposes of Visit is Holiday, Visit Friends and Relatives, and Business
 Average length of stay is around 8.21 nights
 Average expenditure per day is around $ 83.59
 Top Destinations are: Metro Manila, Cebu, Boracay Island, Camarines Sur,
Bohol, Zambales, Davao City, Negros Oriental, Cagayan Valley, Puerto
Prinsesa City, Baguio City, Ilocos Norte, Camiguin Island.
Domestic Tourists:
 Main purpose of travel is Visiting Friends and Relatives41.7%,
Pleasure/Vacation26.8%, Business7.7%, Study2.8%, attending Meetings,
Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events (MICE) 2.2%,
medical/health4.8%, and other7.9%.
 Main source markets are Metro Manila, Cebu, Central Luzon, Davao, Iloilo,
Bacolod, and other large regional cities.
 Average length of stay per trip is around 4.0 nights and average
expenditure for four trips at Php 8,356.75
 Top domestic destinations are: Metro Manila, Davao City, Baguio City,
Boracay, Zambales, Iloilo-Guimaras, Puerto Princesa, and Bohol (source:
Tourists in Selected Major Destinations 2010/2009, DOT).
3. Estimated
Economic Impact
of Tourism (2010)
 Tourism Direct Gross Value Added Php 518,465 million or 5.8% of GDP
 Employs 3.647 million persons and accounts for 10.1% of total employment
 Domestic Tourism Expenditure: Php 932,838 million, or 14.5% of household
final consumption expenditure
 Inbound Tourism Expenditure: Php 109,226 million, or 3.5% of exports
4. Growth Trends
and Forecasts in
International
Arrivals to the
Philippines
 International arrivals to the Philippines increased by 6.5% per annum
between 2000 and 2011.
 Assuming the same rate of development as in past 11 years, the Philippines
could expect to achieve close to 5.4 million arrivals out of 98 million
forecast by the United Nations World Tourism Organization for Southeast
Asia in 2016.
 Assuming the same growth rate over next five year as between 2004 and
2010, i.e. 3.32% p.a., then total domestic tourism volumes by 2016 will
reach 32.8 million.
Executive Summary
This National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) as mandated under Republic Act 9593 provides a
framework to guide the DOT and stakeholders in the private and public sector at the national, regional
and local level to harness the potential of the tourism sector as an engine for sustainable growth. This is
in line with the President’s 16-point agenda and the goals and targets of the Philippine Development
Plan 2011-2016 that focuses upon inclusive socio-economic growth, and the designation of the tourism
sector by Joint Chambers of Commerce as one of 7 key growth sectors in the economy.
The NTDP has been built upon a comprehensive diagnosis of the tourism sector’s competitive strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats; on extensive consultations with more than 1,380 stakeholders
throughout the country; and upon the lessons learned from previous tourism strategies and plans.
Tourism Sector Profile: In 2011 the Philippines received 3.9 million international arrivals up 11% on 2010
and generated an estimated 27.9 million domestic travelers in 2010 up around 7.9% on 2009.1 Between
2001 and 2011, total international arrivals to the Philippines increased by an annual average rate of 7%
from 1.8 million to 3.9 million while domestic travel has increased at around 3% per annum over this
period. These markets support an estimated 96,052 hotel rooms with an additional 16,869 in the
pipeline, as well as 314 inbound, domestic and outbound accredited travel and tour operators; 1,474
accredited tourist transportation units; and 211 accredited guides. In 2010, international and domestic
tourism accounted for 5.8% of GDP and directly supported 3.7 million people in employment. Compared
to its competitors in Southeast Asia in 2010, Philippine tourism has had a modest performance,
accounting for only 5.1% of total arrivals compared to 37% for Malaysia, 22% for Thailand, 10% for
Indonesia and 7% for Viet Nam.
The Opportunity: Market analysis shows that the Philippines is located in one of the fastest growing
regional markets for outbound and inbound tourism in the world. Between 2010 and 2016, the World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that international arrivals to the Asia Pacific Region will
increase from 204 million to 285 million with Southeast Asia increasing from 69 million to 98 million
arrivals. ASEAN (especially Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand), China, South Korea, USA, Japan, India,
and Australia together with Europe are expected to be the main drivers of international arrivals to the
region—especially to Southeast Asia.2
The Philippines has a number of comparative advantages as a tourist destination:
»
good suite of attractive natural and cultural heritage assets and resources;
»
proximity to fast growing economies and major tourism growth markets in Asia;
»
its well known hosting culture;
»
the convergence of public sector agency investment in infrastructure;
»
the opportunity provided by RA9593 (the Tourism Act of 2009), and EO29 (pocket open skies
policy); and
»
the presence of a large and potentially fast-growing domestic tourism market.

1
2
Philippine Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) 2010, NSCB
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 2030 Forecasts
 These advantages provide the opportunity to position the Philippines as “the fun destination” in
Southeast Asia by marketing a portfolio of products of strong interest to potential target markets, thus,
increasing market penetration, length of stay and expenditure, and significantly increasing the overall
share of arrivals in Southeast Asia.

Vision, Goal and Targets for Tourism: In the context of the above opportunities, the stakeholders’ vision
for the development of the Philippine tourism sector was:
“To become the must experience destination in Asia.”
In line with this, the long-term goal of the stakeholders was:
“To develop an environmentally and socially responsible tourism that delivers larger and more widely
distributed income and employment opportunities.”
The goal’s tourism targets for 2016 are:
»
10 million international tourists (10.2% of forecast arrivals to Southeast Asia) staying an average of
9.2 nights and spending an average of Php 4,383 per day; and
»
35.5 million domestic travelers generating 142 million trips with average length of stay of 4.4 nights
and average expenditure at Php 11,167 for four trips.
Key Challenges: The achievement of the overall vision, goal, and targets is confronted by a number of
key challenges that have reduced the competitiveness of the Philippines to penetrate a larger share of
the international tourism markets to Southeast Asia. These can broadly be summarized as:
»
uncompetitive tourist destinations and products;
»
limited flights and seat capacities, poor quality and limited capacity of international and domestic
transportation and destination infrastructure, and other restrictions that have limited market
access; and
»
weak public sector tourism governance and human resources development policies and practices.
Strategic Directions and Programs: The NTDP seeks to leverage the Philippines’ comparative
advantages to offset the weaknesses and threats that have constrained faster tourism growth in the
past. Three strategic directions have been proposed to address the core constraints and to achieve the
vision, goal and related international and domestic visitor targets:
1
develop and market competitive tourist products and destinations.
2
improve market access, connectivity, and destination infrastructure; and
3
improve tourism institutional, governance and industry manpower capabilities.

Strategic Direction 1: Develop and Market Competitive Tourist Products and Destinations

Four strategic programs need to be implemented to achieve the outcome of this strategic
direction:
»
develop a diversified market-orientated product portfolio linked to a destination framework that
physically includes all tourism development areas of the Philippines, and provides economic
opportunities to a wider number of people—especially amongst the poor;
»
raise the quality of facilities and services, and improve the tourism investment and business
climate;
»
safeguard natural and cultural heritage and vulnerable groups; and
»
design and implement a public-private partnership marketing strategy and action plan.
Recommended Product Portfolio: Market analysis undertaken in the course of the preparation of the
NTDP prioritizes:
»
key markets that have large existing share of Philippine tourism (+200,000 arrivals p.a.)and are
either growing or stable such as South Korea, USA, Japan, and China;
»
strategic markets that have moderate existing share of Philippine tourism (100,000—200,00 arrivals
p.a.) but are fast growing (+10% per year) such as the Southeast Asia (especially Singapore and
Malaysia), Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and United Kingdom; and
»
opportunity/niche markets with small existing share of Philippine tourism (less than 100,000
arrivals p.a.) but have niches or segments with the scale and potential to grow quickly such as
India, Scandinavia, Russia, Germany and the Middle East.

An analysis of the product preferences of the priority key, strategic and niche/opportunity
source markets, and the capacity of the Philippines’ tourism resources related to these, found that the
Philippines can capitalize on its diverse tourism assets and markets by positioning and marketing a
portfolio of 9 core products:

» nature-based tourism and cultural tourism products able to deliver higher growth, higher lengths of
stay and expenditure, and wider-spread benefits that will appeal to long haul markets in Europe,
Middle East and North America, and selected markets such as Australia and niche segments in the
regional markets (China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore);
»
sun and beach tourism, meetings, conventions, incentives and exhibitions/events (MICE), leisure
and entertainment and shopping complexes, and diving and marine sports, products capable of
attracting large regional markets (especially China, South Korea, Japan, India, Taiwan, Malaysia,
Australia, and USA);
»
nautical and cruise tourism, health, wellness, retirement tourism, and education tourism products
capable of delivering strong future growth with long average length of stay and expenditure,
appealing to European, Middle East and North American markets, and selected markets such as
Australia, and the South Korean and China markets for education tourism products.
Recommended Destination Framework: Following the approach used in the 2007 Sustainable Tourism
Management Plan for the Central Philippines, extensive stakeholder consultations in the 17 regions of
the Philippines identified 78 existing and emerging tourism development areas (TDAs) that were
grouped into 20 product-market thematic tourism cluster destinations (CD), each of which is served by
at least one or more air, sea, and road gateways.

To guide public and private sector investment, the CDs and their TDAs were ranked according to
the key criteria to determine their overall contribution towards the goals and targets. The top 9 cluster
destinations in order of importance were: 1. Central Visayas, 2. Metro Manila and CALABARZON, 3.
Central Luzon, 4.Palawan, 5. Western Visayas, 6. Davao Gulf and Coast, 7. Northern Mindanao, 8. Bicol,
and 9. Laoag-Vigan. In these clusters, priority action should be given to designing and implementing a
product development program targeting:
»
ecotourism at key 50 natural heritage sites;
»
cultural tourism at 44 key cultural heritage sites;
»
leisure and entertainment centers in the vicinity of the international airports at Mactan-Cebu,
Clark-Subic, Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City, Legaspi City, and Laoag;
»
integrated resorts within 2 hours travel time of international airports at Mactan-Cebu, BoholPanglao Island, Subic-Zambales, La Union, Batangas/Cavite, Laoag-Pagudpud, Puerto Princesa-El
Nido-San Vicente, Boracay-Aklan-Northern Antique, Guimaras Island, Samal Island, and in Misamis
Oriental near Laguindingan International airport; and
»
a cruise hub for training and maintenance at Subic Bay, major integrated cruise hubs in Manila Bay
and Cebu, and port-of-call jetties and terminals at key points such as Coron, Puerto Princesa, El
Nido, Puerto Galera, Romblon, Caticlan, Iloilo, Bohol, Dumaguete and other points as deemed
appropriate.

The DOT as lead agency should work with LGUs and related national government agencies to
design and implement this program.

In the clusters without international airports, priority should be given to improve the existing
product range—especially nature and culture-based tourism products directed mainly at domestic
markets, and improving air, sea, and road infrastructure and transportation linkages to the 9 main
international gateway cluster destinations. This will help to establish a platform for penetrating a larger
share of international markets and a more diversified product base in the medium to longer term.

The recommended product portfolio and cluster destination development framework needs to
be institutionalized into the plans and programs of the DOT and its attached agencies, other national
government agencies, the regional development councils and local government units.

Destination Planning, Development and Marketing Actions: Within the framework of
recommended target market, product portfolio, and destination approach it will be essential to:
»
Raise the competitiveness of the Philippines as a destination through implementation of the DOT
mandatory accreditation system, proactively identifying flagship tourism investments through the
Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), and working with the Chambers of
Commerce and related national and local government units to simplify tourism enterprise business
set-up, licensing, and taxation procedures.
»
Safeguard heritage sites and vulnerable groups to ensure sustainable tourism development by
improving the capacity of sites and site managers to handle increased tourist volumes, increasing
the number of UNESCO inscribed sites from the current 8 to at least 10 to 12, providing guidelines
for incorporating Filipino cultural heritage into the product portfolio, undertaking restoration and
conservation works at key heritage sites, and creating partnerships to mitigate the negative impacts
of tourism on vulnerable groups in the community.
»
Improve the effectiveness and level of resources for marketing the Philippine product portfolio to
target markets by clarifying the strategic marketing approach in relation to target market, products,
branding, and market intelligence; adjusting the international marketing network to rely more on
performance-based local market representatives and electronic marketing managed by four
regional offices; and implementing new operational marketing programs in targeted international
and domestic markets following the detailed guidelines provided in the NTDP marketing strategy
and action plan.

The implementation of these strategic activities will create an orderly process for product and
destination development, give confidence to investors in the sector, and raise the capacity of the
Philippines to attract larger international and domestic tourism flows.

Strategic Direction 2: Improve Market Access, Connectivity, and Destination Infrastructure

To address market access, connectivity and destination infrastructure deficiencies and needs,
four key activities will need to be undertaken:
»
Rapidly improve the quality and expand the capacity of facilities at the primary and secondary
international airports in the 9 international gateway cluster destinations targeting the upgrading
and expansion of Davao and Laoag International Airport, and renovation of Iloilo International
Airport to handle international flights, and finding ways to accelerate the current upgrading and
expansion programs at NAIA, DMIA, and MCIA. The DOT will need to coordinate with the DOTCCAAP in implementing these initiatives.
»
Facilitate the movement by air of international tourists from key markets by increasing the number
of charter flights outside peak times at NAIA and to secondary international airports, and
renegotiating existing Air Service Agreements (ASA) to expand flights and seats on key routes and
designate all secondary international airports as points that can be served under EO29; and simplify
visa requirement procedures and practices applied to key growth markets. The DOT will need to
coordinate the implementation of these initiatives through the CAB and DFA for air services, and
the DOJ and DFA for simplifying visas.
»
Improve strategic air, sea and road access infrastructure links between the 9 priority gateway
cluster destinations and main domestic gateways of other tourism clusters involving the upgrading
of 23 domestic airports, improvement of RO-RO and ports, and improving 28 strategic connecting
roads (850 km) between the cluster destinations; and improving the frequency, quality, and safety
of sea and road transportation services through transport operator cooperation and where
necessary, regulatory reform. The DOT will need to work with the DPWH and DOTC including its
attached agencies (CAAP, PPA, and LTFRB) in implementing these initiatives.
»
Design and implement a tourism destination infrastructure program in the TDAs of the 9 priority
gateway cluster destinations as well as improve access and site visitor and conservation at 95 sites
in the priority clusters to support and underpin private sector investment in accommodation, MICE,
and leisure and entertainment products. The DOT will need to work with the DPWH, DOE, DENR,
LGUs and the private sector where appropriate to implement this initiative.

The implementation of this strategic direction should be accomplished on a progressive basis between
2012 and 2014 to raise the capacity of the Philippines to handle increased international and domestic
tourism flows and put in place the second of the three strategic elements that will enable it to achieve
the tourist volume, length of stay and expenditure targets for 2016.

Strategic Direction 3: Improve Tourism Institutional, Governance and Industry Manpower
Capabilities:

The implementation of this strategic direction is a necessary condition for enhancing the
competitiveness of the Philippines as a destination and achieving the targets of the NTDP. This will
involve undertaking three key activities:
 Harmonize the roles and responsibilities of the DOT and the Local Government Unit institutions for
tourism planning, development, marketing and regulation by improving institutional mechanisms for
partnering on shared functions at the regional and local level; strengthen tourism policy formulation
through partnering with public and academic institutions; and strengthen support to build the
capacity of LGUs to undertake implementation of the NTDP at their level. The DOT, as the lead
agency, will need to work with related national government agencies such as DTI, the League of
Governors, League of Mayors, provincial government units at the regional level, and other
stakeholders to implement this strategic initiative.
 Develop a competent, well-motivated and highly-productive tourism workforce. This will involve:
building skills training capabilities by establishing TESDA skills assessment centers, and a skills
recognition system; improving labor relations by modernizing the labor code, enforcing correct
service charge distribution, and increasing the current ratio of tenured to un-tenured employees;
promoting professional tourism training and education by participating in ongoing ASEAN initiatives,
and consider privatizing TESDA tourism and hospitality training centers; and institutionalizing tourism
human resources recognition, networking, and development by establishing an Association of
Tourism Human Resource Managers, mainstreaming the “Mabuhay Awards”, and organizing an
annual National Tourism Human Resources Forum. The DOT will need to work with DOLE, CHED,
TESDA as well as industry groups such as the Association of Human Resource Managers to implement
these strategic initiatives.
 Creating a culture of tourism that promotes good hosting from arrival to departure, as well as
ensuring safe, secure, clean and green tourist areas is critical to building a good image of the
Philippines as a destination and along with this, generation of repeat visitation and advocacy to
friends and relatives. This will involve: promoting transparency and developing host community
capacities to participate in the tourism value chain; improving hosting skills of front-liners at ports
and transportation services, and at places of stay, as well as safety and security in tourism cities,
towns and centers; and establishing a crisis management and communication unit in the DOT. The
DOT will need to work with the related national government agencies especially CAAP-Airport
Managements, DOJ, DTI, DILG and LGUs to implement these initiatives.
These actions need to be completed between 2011 and 2013 to provide the necessary supporting
institutional, and human resource platform that is crucial to putting in place the third of the three
strategic elements necessary to achieve the tourist volume, length of stay and expenditure targets for
2016.
Environmental and Social Impacts: An initial assessment of the impact of increased domestic and
international tourism in the 20 cluster destinations indicates that by giving adequate attention towards
developing environmentally and socially sustainable tourism, providing necessary environmental
infrastructure at the tourism centers and sites of the TDAs, and putting in place appropriate mitigation
measures to safeguard heritage sites and vulnerable groups, the negative impacts of tourism can be
minimized while its positive impact maximized.
Implementation Arrangements: The overall approach to the implementation of the NTDP is to
institutionalize NTDP programs and tasks into the work programs of the DOT and its attached agencies,
the related national government agencies, the regional development councils (RDC), and local
government units (LGU). The NTDP cluster development plans and related projects should be integrated
with the regional development plans with coordination of implementation undertaken at the RDC level
led by the DOT Regional Director. Full-time coordination and supervision as well as technical support
and institutional strengthening for tourism planning, development, marketing and regulation at the DOT
Regional and LGU level will be required. In this context, the recommended institutional arrangements
are as follows:

the Tourism Coordinating Council (TCC) coordinates national government programs and projects
related to tourism;

the Tourism Congress provides policy, product and destination development and marketing support;

a dedicated DOT NTDP Program Implementation and Coordination Unit (PICU) is established and
headed by an Undersecretary;

the Regional Development Council (RDC) integrates the NTDP into their regional development plans
and programs; and

the concerned national government agencies and LGUs undertake the implementation of specific
infrastructure programs and projects within their respective work plans and budgets.
Action Plan: The NTDP sets out a detailed and coordinated action plan designed to address each of the
above strategic direction and program in the form of specific sub-programs, projects and activities. The
specific tasks to be undertaken, timing of implementation, estimated cost, responsibility for action, and
success indicators are specified in the detailed roadmap for implementation.
Initial Implementation Cost Estimates and Incremental Economic Impacts: Based on the action plan,
the estimated cost of implementing the NTDP’s programs and projects between 2011 and 2016 at 2010
prices is Php 265.9 billion of which Php 74 billion comprises public sector investment in infrastructure,
tourist site improvement and marketing support; and the balance comprises private sector investment
in hotels, resorts, leisure-entertainment-shopping, health and wellness, convention and
event/exhibition, cruise and transportation facilities. An initial economic assessment of the investment
against the incremental tourist expenditure likely to be generated as a result of the implementation of
the NTDP indicates that the EIRR (21.05%) and NPVs (Php 24.1 billion) are relatively robust for the base
case, and even for the lower visitor volume and expenditure scenarios tested.
Incremental Economic Impacts: The successful implementation of the NTDP between 2010 and 2016 is
expected to increase the volume of international tourism to the Philippines from 3.5 million to 10
million (an additional 6.48 million), thus increasing its share of ASEAN tourism from 5.1% to 10.1%, as
well as increasing domestic travel from 27.9 million to 35.5 million (an additional 7.6 million). These
volumes will require investment in an additional 50,867 hotel and resort units. The achievement of
these volumes and related average length of stay and expenditure is expected to:

contribute 8.1% to GDP; and

directly employ 6.8 million people that will account for 17% of total employment.

Based on developing the cluster destination framework recommended in the NTDP, it is
estimated that around 1.6 million of the 6.8 million persons directly employed in the sector by 2016 will
come from the poor sector.