Tourism Sec. Christina Frasco Highlights Budget Challenges
MANILA, Philippines — Tourism Sec. Christina Frasco strongly criticized Congress for drastically cutting the branding campaign budget of the Department of Tourism (DOT), stressing the need for adequate funding to compete with other Asian countries that invest millions in marketing.
“Perhaps the wording that our good congressman should have used was not underperformed but underfunded. For the fact of the matter remains that Congress slashed the budget of the Department of Tourism (DOT) by no less than 83 percent,” Frasco said during a briefing on Thursday. She emphasized the importance of the four-word keyphrase: tourism sector has not delivered, in light of recent criticisms.
Frasco revealed that this year’s promotions budget stands at only P100 million, sharply lower than the P200 million allocated in 2024 and a far cry from the P1.2 billion budget in 2023. Despite this, the tourism sector has remained a powerhouse, contributing P3.86 trillion to the economy and providing jobs for over 6.75 million Filipinos, with indirect employment reaching nearly 10 million more.
“This equates to a return of over 1,900,000 percent from the 200 million that we were allocated,” Frasco noted. She urged critics to consider all facts before passing judgment.
Lawmakers Criticize Tourist Arrivals and Earnings
The comments came after La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V and Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre criticized the DOT for the country’s slow tourism recovery. They highlighted that the Philippines welcomed only 5.95 million tourists in 2024, which trails behind regional neighbors such as Thailand with 35.5 million and Malaysia with 25 million visitors. These figures also fall short of the 8.26 million tourists before the pandemic in 2019.
Ortega and Acidre further pointed out that tourism earnings in 2024 reached around P760 billion ($13 billion), significantly less than Thailand’s $39 billion and Vietnam’s $16 billion.
“These numbers tell a story. We are attracting fewer tourists, and those who do come are spending less,” Ortega said. “That’s a red flag for millions of Filipino workers who depend on tourism, especially in the provinces.”
Frasco Responds to Criticism with Funding Realities
Frasco responded by saying, “Well, you get back what you give. Pre-pandemic, for one, since we’re talking about funding, pre-pandemic funding for tourism promotions was easily over a billion pesos. You cannot expect a full recovery to 100 percent by investing only P100 to P200 million and expect the same numbers.”
She also shared that she already requested President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a P400-million budget increase earlier this year to boost global promotional efforts. The goal is to reintroduce the Philippines to key tourism markets worldwide.
Addressing the lawmakers’ statements, Frasco said they don’t take the comments personally but see them as a critique of the efforts and sacrifices of tourism workers nationwide. “I strongly disagree that the tourism sector has not delivered, for it has. It has delivered returns to the nation, notwithstanding a very meager amount that was provided for tourism promotions, and so, perhaps, calm[ness] and circumspection really is needed at this time,” she added.
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