Theme Explanation for the 29th National Statistics Month

 

 

The country underwent a lot of changes over the years especially with the way people live their lives. One of the industries which has been greatly affected by these changes is tourism which is an important sector in the Philippines. The Philippines is known for its tourist spots mainly for their rich flora, fauna and captivating beauty that has attracted many tourists in and out of the country.

 

The Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts (PTSA) compiled by the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that the tourism industry contributed 12.2 percent to the Philippine economy in 2017 which is 24.2 percent higher than that of the previous year, and that were 5.3 million people employed in this industry for the same year.

 

Since the industry contributes significantly to the economy, there is a great need for obtaining reliable statistics on tourism in order to come up with feasible and appropriate programs and policies that will further lead to its sustainable development. Moreover, these statistics will help policymakers address challenges in the sector which pose as hindrance to its development.

 

In line with this, the 29th National Statistics Month has its theme - " Exploring Philippine Wonders in Numbers: Statistics Towards Sustainable Tourism Development". The theme reflects the relevance of statistics in achieving a sustainable and progressive tourism growth for our country. The theme emphasizes the need for statistics to identify potential tourism havens and also areas which require intervention.

 

The Philiipine Statistical Development Program (PSDP) 2018-2023 outlines statistical activities for the tourism sector such as the establishment of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) mechanism, the conduct of exploratory work on the compilation of data on tourism investment, workshop on the generation of tourism O-I, among others. These activities support the Philippine Development Goals (SDGs) and are aimed at ensuring the steady generation of timely and relevant tourism-related data to boost the tourism sector and provide basis for programs that are geared towards the sustainability of Philippine tourism.