This is 14.8 per cent more than the 952 billion pesos recorded in 2014, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a statement.

The contribution was measured in terms of tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) to total gross domestic product (GDP).

PTSA data also showed that inbound tourism expenditures continued to increase, growing by 10.7 per cent to 306.6 billion pesos in 2015 from 276.9 billion pesos in 2014.

Inbound tourism expenditure refers to how much nonresident visitors (foreign visitors and Filipinos permanently residing abroad) spend while visiting the Philippines.

Compared to the country’s total exports, the share of inbound tourism expenditure was 8.2 per cent.

It also ranked third among the biggest export items in 2015, after miscellaneous services at 29.8 per cent and semiconductors at 22.8 per cent.

Domestic tourism expenditure, which includes expenses of resident visitors within the country either as domestic trip or part of an international trip, similarly grew by 26.1 per cent to 1.77 trillion pesos last year from the 1.4 trillion pesos in 2014.

This figure represents 18 per cent of the household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) in 2015, the PSA said.

According to the PSA statement, employment in tourism-related industries reached some 5 million in 2015, up by 3.4 per cent compared to 4.8 million in 2014.

The share of employment in tourism industries to total employment stood at 12.7 per cent in 2015.

Meanwhile, data released by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) earlier this year showed that the Philippine travel and tourism industry contributed a total of 1.43 trillion pesos to the local economy in 2015, equivalent to about 10.6 per cent of the country’s GDP.

The industry’s total contribution—which reflects not only the economic activity of directly related industries, but also the wider effects from investments and the supply chain—is also expected to rise by 6.6 per cent this year, and to 2.6 trillion pesos by 2026, data from the WTTC’s Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2016 report showed.

The industry’s direct contribution—or the economic activity generated by industries such as hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services—meanwhile rose to 569 billion pesos last year, equivalent to 4.2 per cent of total GDP. Direct contribution is similarly expected to grow by 6 per cent to 604 billion pesos this year, and by 5.3 per cent yearly to 1 trillion pesos by 2026.

US$1 = 46.34 pesos as of 6/20/2016 via oanda.com