Philippines' Department of Tourism (DOT) on welcomed President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s recent signing of Presidential Proclamation No. 90, which adjusts the roster of regular holiday and special non-working days in 2023 to introduce more long weekends that Filipinos can potentially plan their trips around, as per media reports.
According to Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, the DOT foresees the Presidential Proclamation as “an important stimulus to boost the country’s domestic travel figures,” as this will “allow travelers to stay longer in destinations and thus bring direct economic benefits to the local communities.”
Pursuant to President Marcos’ vision for the tourism industry to be a major economic pillar for the country, Secretary Frasco said that the DOT has identified the maximization of domestic tourism as one of its seven main objectives.
“The Presidential Proclamation corresponds to the Marcos administration’s thrust to maximize domestic tourism in the country, cognizant of its significant contribution to the recovery of the local economy and the overall growth of the country’s tourism industry,” said Secretary Frasco. Based on Presidential Proclamation No. 90, there will be a total of nine (9) long weekends in 2023.
Since last year, the DOT has noted a steady pick-up in the country’s domestic tourism figures. Based on data from the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts (PTSA), domestic trips in the Philippines in 2021 tallied 37,279,282, or 38.16% higher than the trips registered in 2020. The PTSA also showed the estimated number of domestic trips in the country to be at its highest in 2019, tallying 122,118,141. This number drastically decreased by 77.90% in 2020, with 26,982,233 recorded domestic trips.
