This photo taken on December 12, 2023 shows tourists paddling their kayaks while others take photos inside the Big Lagoon in El Nido town, Palawan province.
MANILA, Philippines — The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. plans on increasing the country’s tourist arrivals by 10-fold as the Philippines aims to become the region’s next “tourism behemoth.”
Marcos tourism-thrust/”>shared this vision with fellow Filipinos, comparing the past Balikbayan program with the country’s current target during the launch of the Tourist Rest Area (TRA) in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte on Friday.
“Our ambition is [then] was one million tourists. That was the ambition. One million tourists can come back. That includes overseas Filipinos. That’s why balikbayan boxes started pouring in since we didn’t tax it,” said Marcos in a mix of Filipino and English on Friday.
“Now, we are targeting 10 times that. And we have started to approach that but there are many aspects to tourism. It’s not just…
