NSCB - 2003 Factsheet - Tourists Spend More Nights in the Philippines Than In Other ASEAN Countries

Visiting different places is a pleasurable way of spending time away from one’s usual surrounding. And as a visitor indulges in his/her travels, economic activities are started in several sectors of the economy, bringing forth additional income to the country. It is this multiple benefits of tourism, trickling down from one economic activity to another that makes us look at tourism as a potent instrument in realizing economic progress in a sustainable manner. Indeed, the government has been steadfast in its campaign to promote tourism as an industry that can create opportunities for many Filipinos. Players in the private sector, such as the airline industry, hotels and restaurants, travel and tour operators likewise are doing their share to boost the country’s tourism.

With the country’s vision of putting the Philippines on the international tourism map and its recognition as one of the highly preferred destinations by international visitors, it is important to know where we are compared to our ASEAN neighbors by looking at some tourism statistics.

As an example, the Table below shows that tourists spend more nights in the Philippines compared to other ASEAN countries. Our visitors stay an average 9.4 nights in the country, surpassing that of Indonesia’s and Thailand’s 8.3 nights and 8.1 nights, respectively. Posing a real threat, however, is Indonesia’s increasing pattern which started in 1997. In 2001, Indonesia’s visitors stayed an average of 10.5 nights, higher compared to our 9.5 nights.

Table 1: Average Length of Stays, 1995-2001
(in nights)

ASEAN Countries	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	Average 1/
Philippines	10.1	9.9	9.5	9.1	8.9	8.8	9.5	9.4
Indonesia	2.5	2.7	10.6	9.2	10.5	12.3	10.5	8.3
Thailand	-	-	8.3	8.4	8.0	7.8	7.9	8.1
Lao People's Democratic Republic	-	-	5.0	5.0	5.5	5.5	8.0	5.8
Myanmar	3.0	4.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	-	5.8
Cambodia	-	-	6.4	5.2	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6
Malaysia	1.6	-	5.3	5.5	6.0	5.8	6.0	5.0
Viet Nam	2.6	2.4	4.5	5.6	5.6	6.0	6.0	4.7
Singapore	3.1	2.8	3.3	3.4	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2
Brunei Darussalam	3.0	2.6	-	-	-	-	-	2.8

Note: "-" refers to data not available

1/ Years with missing data were not considered in computing the average levels

Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO) 2001/2003 Compendium of Tourism Statistics

Another useful set of information on tourism is occupancy rate, or the use of available accommodation in a given period. Table 2 – Average Occupancy Rates shows that in the Philippines, 61.7 percent of the available accommodation from 1995 to 2001 was occupied or utilized. This is second among the ASEAN countries with Singapore topping the list at 78.8 percent average occupancy rate. It must be noted, however, that accommodation services are availed not only by tourists but by other types of visitors as well. Nevertheless, it is an important tourism indicator as it provides insights on the supply and use of accommodation services.

Table 2: Average Occupancy Rates, 1995-2001
(In Percent)

ASEAN Countries	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	Average1/
Singapore	84.0	82.3	79.4	71.3	74.9	83.5	76.3	78.8
Philippines	62.2	70.0	69.1	56.9	59.2	58.8	55.9	61.7
Malaysia	65.5	62.3	58.0	49.9	51.7	57.7	58.6	57.7
Brunei Darussalam	71.0	66.9	61.2	54.5	49.1	62.8	-	60.9
Thailand	53.6	51.4	46.6	47.5	49.5	50.8	51.9	50.2
Viet Nam	51.0	43.1	43.0	42.7	45.2	50.1	52.0	46.7
Indonesia	52.3	52.9	48.4	38.1	42.2	43.2	44.8	46.0
Cambodia	37.0	40.0	30.0	40.0	44.0	45.0	48.0	40.6
Lao People's Democratic Republic	-	-	62.0	47.0	-	-	51.0	53.3
Myanmar	50.0	32.0	26.0	28.0	30.0	26.6	-	32.1

Note: "-" refers to data not available

1/ Years with missing data were not considered in computing the average levels

Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO) 2001/2003 Compendium of Tourism Statistics

In terms of the average level of visitor arrivals (Table 3a), the Philippines ranked fifth among the ASEAN countries with 2.020 million visitors compared to Malaysia’s 13.321 million, the top in the list. Looking at the growth rates of inbound visitor arrivals (Table 3b), the Philippines registered a bullish growth of 16.4 percent in 1996 and continued to do well in 1997 with an 8.5 percent rate of increase. During this period, Malaysia experienced downturns in visitor arrivals, posting negative 5.4 percent in 1996 and 10.6 percent in 1997. Table 3a shows that it was in 1997 when the country hosted the highest number of visitors at 2.223 million. However, with the Asian financial crisis in 1997, arrivals in the Philippines went down by 3.3 percent in 1998. In 1999, a 1.0 percent growth was observed but the recovery was short-lived as tourist arrivals dipped by 8.2 percent in 2000 and another 9.8 percent in 2001. On the other hand, our neighboring countries generally experienced continued growth in visitor arrivals after the financial crisis. Furthermore, Malaysia, after three consecutive downturns in 1995 to 1998 bounced back in 1999 and continued to exhibit increase in visitor arrivals.

Table 3a: Visitor Arrivals, 1995-2001
In Thousand

ASEAN Countries	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	Average Level
Malaysia	14885	14084	12591	10886	13910	17213	22995	15223
Thailand	6952	7434	7530	8204	9151	10096	10751	8588
Singapore	7137	7292	7198	6242	6958	7691	7522	7149
Indonesia	4324	5034	5185	4606	4728	5064	5153	4871
Philippines	1760	2049	2223	2149	2171	1992	1797	2020
Viet Nam	1351	1607	1716	1520	1782	2140	2330	1778
Brunei Darussalam2/	498	837	643	964	967	984	0	816
Lao People's Democratic Republic	346	403	463	500	614	737	674	534
Myanmar	194	490	491	478	435	418	478	426
Cambodia3/	220	260	0	575	644	0	0	425

Note: "-" refers to data not available.

1/ Average level and growth rate covers 1995 to 2000 only.

2/ Average level pertains only to years with data; average growth rate was not computed pending with the missing data.

Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO) 2001/2003 Compendium of Tourism Statistics.

Table 3b: Growth Rates of Visitor Arrivals, 1995-2001
Annual Growth Rates

ASEAN Countries	95-96	96-97	97-98	98-99	99-00	00-01
Malaysia	(5 .4)	(10.6)	(13.5)	27.8	23.7	33.6
Thailand	6.9	1.3	9.0	11.5	10.3	6.5
Singapore	2.2	(1.3)	(13.3)	11.5	10.5	(2.2)
Indonesia	16.4	3.0	(11.2)	2.6	7.1	1.8
Philippines	16.4	8.5	(3.3)	1.0	(8.2)	(9.8)
Viet Nam	18.9	6.8	(11.4)	17.2	20.1	8.9
Brunei Darussalam	68.1	(23.2)	49.9	0.3	1.8	-
Lao People's Democratic Republic	16.5	14.9	8.0	22.8	20.0	(8.5)
Myanmar	152.6	0.2	(2.6)	(9.0)	(3.9)	14.4
Cambodia	18.2	-	-	12.0	-	-

Source: National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

For inquiries, please contact:

Ms. Lea H. Amoro at telephone number 896-7981 or through e-mail addresses lh.amoro@nscb.gov.ph


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