Transforming the Philippine Tourism Industry

TOURISM SECRETARY CHRISTINA GARCIA-FRASCO CONTINUES TO LEAD SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO TRANSFORM THE PHILIPPINE TOURISM INDUSTRY, MAKING USE OF GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES SHE HAD MASTERED AS A LOCAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE.

From top local chief executive in the Visayas to top member of the Cabinet. This, in a nutshel, succinctly summarizes Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Fraco's nine years as a public servant.

After continuing the transformation of Liloan, Cebu into a model municipality in the Visayas in her two terms as mayor, Frasco has skilfully led the Department of Tourism into one more becoming one of the top performing executive agencies and second top driver of the country's economic growth and development.

FROM LOCAL TO NATIONAL

Frasco may be a relative newcomer to public service, but her direct exposure to public service as well as her educational background have served her well. She is a member of the Garcia clan of Cebu, which counts among its more prominent members her mother, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and her grandfather, former Governor Pablo Garcia. Her spouse, Cebu Fifth District Representative Vincent Franco Frasco, is one of the current deputy speakers in the House of Representatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in legal management from the Ateneo de Manila University and earned her law degree from the Ateneo School of Law.

Frasco’s first foray into public service came in 2016, when she was elected as mayor of Liloan. She was reelected for her second term in 2019. Under her leadership, Liloan continued to develop economically and socially. In 2019, it was named as the country’s Most Resilient Municipality by the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the Top Philippine Model Municipality by Manila Times. Among others, Liloan also received national recognition for its achievements in the fields of education, business friendliness, and infrastructure. In May 2022, the people of Liloan gave their then-reelectionist mayor an overwhelming mandate to lead them for another term. After all, she had served them meritoriously and had more plans for the first class municipality. Her third term, however, was nipped in the bud as she was tapped to lead a major department under the new administration. Thenincoming President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. had decided to appoint her as secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT). With her acceptance of the position, Frasco became the youngest member of the Marcos Cabinet. Frasco’s appointment came at a critical time. “At the time, not only were we dealing with the pandemic, but also recovering from the very devastating Typhoon Odette that ravaged much of Cebu,” she recalls. “The effort that I had made as mayor was really to ensure that quality of life in Liloan is high. And toward the future, with our intention of becoming a city, we designed our programs to make sure that not only did we invest in infrastructure, health, social welfare, and the education of our people, but also that we increase the capacity of the people of Liloan to obtain gainful livelihood. And so all of these were still in play at the time that I was reelected as mayor, and then I received the invitation from the president. My response to the president, initially, was to request that I be given the opportunity to consult with the people that elected me, our local leaders, our constituents, and of course, my family.” “In the conversations that I had, both with my family and my constituents—and I did make the effort to do my rounds in the barangays, even up to the mountainside—all were in agreement that an invitation from a president for me to be part of the team that will turn his vision of unity and unprecedented progress for our country should not to be turned down,” Frasco relates. “The opportunity to serve the Filipino people in a larger capacity is one that I'm very grateful for. So, with the blessing of my family and the people of Liloan, I accepted the invitation.”

LISTENING TOUR… AND MORE When she assumed the post of tourism secretary, Frasco set out on a listening tour around the country to understand the situation on the ground and connect with tourism stakeholders. “My experience as mayor taught me the importance of listening to your people and of seeing the actual situation on the ground, rather than just simply crafting policy from the comfort of your office,” she shares. “And so the effort was to gain insight, both from our local stakeholders all over the Philippines, and our stakeholders from abroad.” Said activity involved property owners; travel and tour operators; transport operators; micro, small and medium-scale enterprise owners; and even tour guide.

“The directive of the president was to increase the global competitiveness of the country. And we could not do that without understanding the lay of the land, as they say, and without also addressing the needs of those that depend on the tourism industry and have invested heavily in tourism. The listening tour which we did across very many sectors of the tourism value chain enabled us to obtain ideas as to how we can innovate within the tourism industry and also very honest feedback on how we can improve,” Frasco stresses. In addition to the listening tour, tourism officials led by their then-newly appointed chief conducted due diligence of the actual state of Philippine tourism, especially vis-á-vis our direct competitors in the Southeast Asian region. “There we found that the barriers to the full ascension of the Philippines in terms of its stature in the ASEAN tourism hemisphere lies in number one, infrastructure; second, connectivity; third, digitalization; and fourth, in the diversity of tourism offerings, as well as the equity of tourism development,” Frasco reveals.

A CLEAR TOURISM ROADMAP “All of the insights that the DOT gathered, as well as data from all over the world, aided us in crafting the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) for 2023 to 2028, which the president approved,” Frasco shares.

Less than a year after she assumed the DOT top post, Frasco launched the NTDP 2023–2028 during the Tourism Stakeholders’ National Summit in March 2023. The NTDP, she says, is the department’s blueprint for strategies on how to sustain and to grow the impact of tourism on our economy in the next few years. It will serve as the guidebook for mechanisms to ensure sustainability, innovation, inclusivity, and global competitiveness.

The NTDP, the secretary also reveals, is the department’s response to the president’s call for tourism officials to transform the Philippine tourism industry into a tourism powerhouse in Asia in the next five years.

The above mandate, together with the president’s statement that improving tourism is a priority for the government, Frasco says, gave them the confidence to meet challenges head on. “For one, the foundation of that vision lies in the intention to reintroduce the Philippines to the world from the lens of the Filipino story. It not only provides a purview of the fun and adventure that we're able to offer, and for which we have been known for very long, but also, more importantly, a view into the Filipino culture,” she elaborates.

“We can all agree that the greatest strength of the Philippines is the Filipino people. And by allowing the world to get to know the heart and soul of the Filipino, then we have a very good foundation from which to start our ascension to become a tourism powerhouse. The strength of our heritage, the diversity of our culture, the vastness of our history that covers generations of influences as well as the intricacies of our regions that one can discover by tasting Filipino food across our destinations, partaking in our festivals, understanding the living cultural traditions of our indigenous peoples, will all work in our favor,” she adds.

With the above, the DOT has come up with various efforts to strategically position the Philippines as a preferred and premier destination for certain tourism products and services, including health and wellness, gastronomy, cruise, and culture. One of these is the Philippine Experience Program which Frasco describes as “a culture, heritage, and arts caravan that focuses on providing opportunities for well known, emerging, and lesser known destinations to be introduced, not just to our tourists, but also, importantly, to our tourism stakeholders and our foreign diplomats stationed in the Philippines, especially those from countries with existing travel advisories against the country.”

“We bring our tourism stakeholders and diplomats to various destinations, and we coordinate with our regional offices as well as our local government units to provide a two to three-day day itinerary that covers the heritage, history, and culture of the regions, provinces, cities, and municipalities,” Frasco explains. “It could also include, where applicable, visits to UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We also highlight health and wellness sanctuaries and of course, provide a view into the local culture and traditions of the place. And especially, it has a buying component so that we are able to benefit the local communities and support local economies as the local stakeholders are able to sell their local goods and wares through this visit. It also includes a culinary component, where we feature the local delicacies of the destinations.”

MY EXPERIENCE AS MAYOR TAUGHT ME THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING TO YOUR PEOPLE AND OF SEEING THE ACTUAL SITUATION ON THE GROUND, RATHER THAN JUST SIMPLY CRAFTING POLICY FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR OFFICE.

Meanwhile, the Bisita, Be My Guest program is the DOT’s way of providing incentives for overseas Filipinos that invite foreigners to come into the country. “We are very grateful to our kababayans, and the entire diaspora of Filipinos from all over the world, as we view them as our tourism ambassadors,” the secretary underscores. Incentives include the possibility of winning a house and lot, a condominium unit, free vacations to the country, free airline tickets, and free shopping sprees.

ENGAGING LGUS

Being a member of the Cabinet has given Frasco the chance to apply her learnings as a local official on a national scale. “Even if I am no longer mayor, I still very much have a local perspective in national governance,” she stresses. “I am still very much driven by the sense of urgency that all mayors have, knowing that if policy does not change, if programs are not implemented, and if people are not a priority, then nothing positive will happen. So coming into the national government, I have always been very conscious of never forgetting where I came from and understanding that the policies that are crafted on a national scale should take into consideration the needs of our local government units.” A tangible result of the above perspective is the Tourism Champions Challenge, which was launched by the secretary herself during the national assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines in 2023. It is a program where the national government, through the DOT and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, grants financial assistance to local government units that propose tourism infrastructure projects that are of their own idea and of their own creation under the auspices of inclusivity, resilience, and sustainability.

“After we launched this program, we received around 98 proposals from all over the Philippines, which then went through a very rigorous process of mentoring and expert advice from national government agencies, private tourism stakeholders, and other relevant experts to make sure that the proposal is fashioned in a manner that would ensure its sustainability and maximum benefits to the community,” Frasco shares. “We also made sure that it is marketable in terms of its attractiveness to international and domestic tourists.” No less than the president himself led the awarding ceremonies where the DOT handed out around 250 awards, in addition to millions of pesos in financial assistance to the 15 LGUs that were shortlisted. With the program, Filipinos can expect tourism infrastructure projects to rise, thus helping ensure that the benefit of tourism are felt in all regions across the country.

A SHOWCASE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

One of the hallmarks of Frasco’s leadership of the DOT is the department’s judicious use of its budget. “The Commission on Audit has given the DOT high audit ratings for a number of years. A priority of the department under this administration is really to ensure good governance, and we have managed to maintain the unmodified opinion of the COA since the onset of the Marcos administration,” she reveals. “Affirmations from both our government auditing body as well as from the private auditing sector give us the impetus to continue to make sure that public funds are used in a manner that maximizes the effectiveness of our programs.”

The DOT has also managed to renew its quality management systems and ISO accreditations. As an added measure to ensure accountability, transparency, and excellence in government service, the department is also finalizing a balanced scorecard for each of its operating units to make sure that everyone is always accountable for all of their duties and responsibilities. With Frasco at the helm, the DOT has posted record figures in a number of indicators. For starters, the tourism industry posted 6.21 million in employment for 2023, a significant increase from 5.84 million in 2022. This figure also translates to 16 million in indirect employment, taking into account the indirect benefits of tourism. In all, the tourism industry accounted for almost 13 percent of total employment in the country in 2023. Moreover, tourism accounted for an 8.6 percent share of our gross domestic product for 2023, contributing almost Php2.1 trillion to the national coffers. This represents an almost 50 percent increase from Php1.41 trillion recorder in 2022. For 2024, Frasco reported a record-breaking Php760 billion in estimated receipts from international visitor arrivals, adding that foreign tourists stayed longer at an average of 11 days, compared to 9 in 2019.

Frasco’s efforts to transform the DOT have not gone unnoticed. Just as she received accolades when she was mayor, including the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Regional Award in 2021, Frasco has also received national and international recognition for her achievements as DOT chief. One of these is the prestigious Tourism Good Governance Award from SKAL International. SKAL International is a network of travel and tourism professionals that promotes travel and tourism worldwide. Meanwhile, in the last quarter of 2024, she emerged as one of the top performing Cabinet members based on a nationwide survey.

TRANSFORMATION WITHIN THE DOT

Alongside judicious use of resources and effective implementation of the DOT’s various programs, Frasco has also given special attention to reforms within the department.

“We have sought to make sure that we take care of our people,” the secretary stresses. “My experience as mayor has taught me that as a leader, you're only as good as your people. And you need to make sure that those from whom you require excellence, service, and sacrifice, have a leader to turn to, especially in the performance of their job, and during times of difficulty.”

Frasco shares that within six months after she took over, the DOT managed to renew its collective negotiation agreement with the DOT Employees Union. They have also provided free personal insurance to job order personnel. More importantly, there are now more opportunities for regularization as well as for ascension into a higher position and higher salary grade. More consideration has also been given to employees with special circumstances. For instance, they have launched the Child Minding Center for employees who are mothers. With this, mothers could leave their children at the center, to be supervised by accredited teachers while they are at work.

With the DOT performing exceptionally well in the past two and a half years, Frasco is optimistic that the government’s goal of making the Philippines a tourism powerhouse will soon be achieved. Even as she thanks national as well as local government officials for their support, she also highlights the important role of ordinary citizens in achieving the government’s tourism goals. “In our effort to transform Philippine tourism, we have also sought to reignite in our countrymen this burning pride of place and love of country. Knowing that tourism is a force for good, tourism is a source of unity no matter our differences in political opinions, state of life, and geographic location. One thing that we all hold in common is our love for the Philippines. And so I encourage you, our fellow Filipinos to continue to show that love by traveling across the Philippines and by carrying the banner of the Philippines wherever you may go,” she ends.