1. Tourism and The Labor Market Test Working World Trialogue: The Philippine Labor Market Test and the Global Working World 10 November 2008, Institute of Labor Studies

2. International Arrivals from January to April 2008 grew by 5 percent or 12 million more to reach 266 million visitors In MillionIn US$ Billion

3. YoY Growth Rate (%) *: January – July 2008 Visitor Arrivals to the Philippines, 2000- 20078 (In Millions) -8.2%-9.8%7.6%-1.3%20.1%14.5%8.4%8.7%6.1% The year 2007 has been a breakthrough for Philippine tourism as healthy growth in visitor arrivals was recorded. Despite the global financial crisis, tourist arrivals for the seven months of 2008 went up by 6.1 percent

4. Top 10 Tourist Markets, January-July 2008 Korea continued to lead as key source market. However, China, Taiwan, Australia, Canada and United Kingdom showed strong double digit growth.

5. Arrivals from European Markets, January-July 2008 European Market lead by United Kingdom and Germany demonstrated robust growth. Scandinavian countries continued to increase at even faster rate.

6. For the first time ever, foreign expenditure posted a hefty growth of 40.99% to reach US$4.885 Billion. YoY Growth Rate -16.40%-19.27%1.01%-12.49%30.74%12.32%54.96%40.99% Source of Data: Arrival/Departure Cards and Sea Manifests Visitor Sample Survey at International gateways Visitor Expenditure in the Philippines, 2000- 2007 (In US$ Billion) Trend Line

7. % Share of tourism estate and Accommodation sector Source of Data: Tourism Investment Unit Office of Tourism Standards, DOT Endorsed Tourism Investments, 2000- 2008 --34.1%90.7%87.3%99.5%100.0% 99.47% For the last five years, DOT endorsed, for various incentives, to concerned government agencies a total of Php 137.883 billion worth of new investments. The bulk of investments were in the tourism estates and accommodation sector.

8. Incremental Jobs Source of Data: Office of Tourism Development Planning Number of Jobs Generated, 2000- 2007 --230,000150,000-30,000470,000410,000290,000360,000 In 2007, travel and tourism contributed an estimated 3.77 million jobs across the economy strengthening its position as among the major employment generator of the country.

9. Registered Employees in Accredited Tourism Establishments, 2006 - 2008 Over the past three years, aliens employed in accredited tourism establishments accounted for 1.2 percent with the hotel and tour operation sectors having the biggest share Category200620072008* FilipinosAliensFilipinosAliensFilipinosAliens Hotels16,80713215,1052278,13841 Resorts4,749317,080382,72810 Tour Operators4,8041344,9861742,84029 Tourist Transports4,518-5,347-3,6528 TREs3,817151,52363,60810 Restaurants2,593173,44832,0754 Tour Guides3741474083620128 Total37,66247637,89748423,242130 * January – June 2008

10. Developments on the regulation on employment of foreign nationals in the tourism sector  Administrative Orders issued by the DOLE from 1998 to 2006 has superseded the tripartite agreement between the DOT, DOLE and BI on the entry and employment of foreign nationals in tourism  Specifically, it reduced the processing requirements and time for issuance of Alien Employment Permit (AEP) and the understudy training program  However, the DOT continue to endorse to the DOLE for consideration the application for AEP by foreign nationals employed by tourism establishments

11. Proposed commitments on Mode 4 on tourism in the WTO, AFAS and other free trade agreements  None or no limitations for foreign nationals seeking employment in the hotels, resorts, travel agencies, tour operation and professional congress organizers except as indicated in the horizontal section of the Philippine Offer  Tour guides may be allowed subject to reciprocity and limitations listed in the horizontal section

12. Initiatives undertaken by DOT in pursuit of liberalizing the movement of natural persons in tourism  Competency-based standards and certification program for tourism professionals have been developed in accordance with the APEC and ASEAN regional initiatives  Series of workshops and consultations have been undertaken with the tourism industry over the past three years to elicit inputs and recommendations from stakeholders  An ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for Tourism Professionals will be signed in Hanoi in January 2009 which will provide the framework for the movement of natural persons in the tourism sector across 32 job titles in 6 labor divisions of the hotel and travel services

13. Liberalizing manpower movement in tourism sector  Will help fill-in the gaps for limited manpower in the tourism sector due to the current influx of Filipinos seeking job opportunities abroad  More tourists could be expected as some foreign nationals would like to be served and attended to by their own citizens due to cultural orientation and language barriers  Will help the industry to better plan the tourism programs

14. What needs to be done in preparation for the liberalization of Mode 4  Continuing dialogues and consultations with the labor sector and employer groups must be undertaken to ensure that their interests are safeguarded in the negotiation process  Education and training should continually be enhanced and upgraded to allow the Filipinos to be more competitive in the global labor market for tourism  Community residents in tourism areas must be given extensive training so they can be given priority in job placement  Competency-based skills standards must be advocated at the regional and local levels

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