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While the Philippines fell short of its target international arrivals in 2024, the tourism sector’s revenues reach record highs as international visitors stay in the country longer
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) and Mastercard inked a partnership geared towards using data analytics to better promote Philippine destinations.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco and officials from the global payments firm formalized the partnership in a ceremony on Wednesday, June 18.
Frasco said the partnership will allow the DOT to use data from Mastercard to offer joint promotions for Philippine destinations.
“On the side of the Department of Tourism, the data that Mastercard will be able to provide us and vice versa will ensure that both our policies as well as programs will always be data driven, as well as driven by the needs of people on the ground,” she said.
The partnership places several local tourist spots on Mastercard’s Priceless, a curated list of experiences around the world that Mastercard offers at a special rate.
According to Aisha Islam, Mastercard’s senior vice president for customer solutions in Southeast Asia, the initiative will support the DOT’s role in destination marketing.
“We will do this by combining Mastercard’s global priceless platform with our customer insights as well as secure digital payments, which will aim to showcase the very best of what the Philippines offers while creating both seamless and safe travel experiences,” she said.
The Philippines narrowly missed its goal of 6 million tourist arrivals, welcoming just 5.9 million international visitors that year. Despite falling short of its target arrivals, the tourism sector booked record high revenues of P760 billion.
The World Travel & Tourism Council expects the industry to contribute to 21% of the Philippines’ gross domestic product in 2025.
Dheeraj Raina, Mastercard’s Southeast Asia head of integrated marketing and communications, noted that tourists are staying longer in the Philippines. Because of this, Raina said they were spending more on culinary experiences and accommodations.
“Ecotourism is picking up as well. And therefore, we are seeing people going to these smaller provinces and therefore talking about sustainable tourism and we believe that will grow and we want to create more tourism activities with that,” he pointed out. – Rappler.com
