Philippine Tourism Geography and Culture

Etymology of the Philippines:

⚫ Felipinas given by the Spanish explorer (Ruy Lopez de Villalobos) in honor of Prince Felipe (Philip) of
Asturias who became Philip II the greatest King of Spain changed it to “Las Islas Filipinas”.
⚫ Felipinas was changed to Philippine Islands during American colonial regime
⚫ Republic of the Philippines after decolonization in 1946.
⚫ Archipelago of Saint Lazarus- name given by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521
Other names:
⚫ Ma-i used by Chau Ju-Kuan, a chinese trader official in 1225, given by Wang Ta-yuan to Mindoro in
1934 (Mintolang-Mindanao, Malilu-Manila, Pishoye-Visayas)
⚫ Pearl of the Orient Sea given by a Jesuit Historian “Father Juan J. Delgado” in 1751 (on September 24,
1892 Dr. Jose Rizal popularized the name when he published an Article in Hongkong Telegraph and on
December 30, 1896 Dr. Rizal used it again in his Famous Farewell poem “Mi Ultimo Adios”)
*Tourism is derived from Hebrew word “torah” which means studying, learning, and teaching. Tourism is
the temporary short-period movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally
live, work; and activities during their stay at these destinations

Geographical Features and Facts:

Philippines
Location:
- located in Southeast Asia (Asia Pacific Ring of Fire)
- bounded by bodies of water
North- Bashi Channel
East- Pacific Oceaan
West- West Philippine Sea
South- Celebes Sea and Sulu Sea
- slightly little above the Equator
* Pacific Ring of Fire – runs from southern Chile to Alaska Coast -where numerous earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions take place
17th President: Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr : 15th Vice President: Sara “Inday” Duterte
The Philippines covers an area of 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi) and, as of 2021, it had a population of
109,035,343 people, making it the world's thirteenth-most-populous country. 3 major islands (Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao)
Largest Island: LUZON (Northern, Central, Southern Luzon and NCR)
Total number of Island: 7, 641 island
Total number of Provinces: 82 – thirty-eight (38) in Luzon, twenty-seven (27) in the Visayas, and seventeen
(17) in Mindanao.
Largest Province: Palawan
Smallest Province: Batanes
Total number of Cities: 143
Oldest Province: Aklan
Total number of Municipalities: 1,491
Total number of Barangays: 42, 028

Climate: first half of the year (January to May) best time to visit the country. Two (2 seasons) Dry
Season (El Niño) and Wet Season (La Niña)
November to February: cool
*Northeast Monsoon (Hanging Amihan)
March to May: hot and dry
June to October: rainy
*Southwest Monsoon (Hanging Habagat)
 Major Landforms:
Highest Point: Mount Apo (Davao) -dormant volcano/ inactive
Second Highest: Mount Pulag (Cordillera)
Mountain Range: Sierra Madre Range (Cagayan)
Famous Volcanoes:
Mt. Mayon (Daraga, Albay) -most active and most perfect cone
Mt. Taal (Batangas) June 2021- world’s smallest volcano
Mt. Pinatubo (Zambales) November 30, 2021 -world’s most destructive volcano
Longest River: Cagayan River (Luzon)
Rio Grande de Mindanao (Mindanao)
Largest Lake: Laguna de Bay
Famous Bay: Manila Bay
Language: two official languages (English and Filipino)
*8 major dialects in order of use: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), Bicol, Waray, Pampango,
and Pangasinense.
*76 to 78 major language groups with more than 500 dialects

Major Ethnic Groups: there are more than 100 ethnic groups, the following are the dominant
ethnic groups. Tagalog, Bisaya, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo and Waray.

Threats to Preservation of Culture: language is said to be the bearer of culture and mass media is
the medium through radio, television, print and internet (social media) serves as the window to the world.
*New tastes, needs and opinions are created which contributes to the destruction of traditional value
system.
Philippines is an archipelago that composes of natural, cultural or heritage attractions. Filipinos are known
for being hospitable in the whole world, most friendly, and most hardworking. Filipinos are also bilingual
(Filipino and English) making it easy for foreign tourist to communicate with locals of different destinations.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) considered Philippines for its
several world heritage site. One of the cultural heritages are the Baroque Churches such as San Agustin
Church in Manila, Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte, Sta. Maria Church in Ilocos Sur and Miag-ao in Iloilo.
Historic Town in Vigan and Rice Terraces in Cordilleras. In Natural Category, Mount Hamiguitan Range
Wildlife Sanctuary in Eastern Mindanao, Puerto Princesa Subtarreanean River National Park and Tubbataha
Reef National Marine Park in Palawan. The Philippines is also known to its internationally acclaimed white
sand beaches of Boracay, Coron, El Nido and Panglao.
Philippine Tourism is one of the reasons why economic, social and cultural drivers become valuable. Based
on arrival rates every year, these impacts have been far and wide. Based on origin, international tourism
and domestic tourism are the two distinct types of tourism.
International Tourism refers to tourism that crosses national borders while Domestic is defined as travel
made within one’s country of residence.
*Since there is no discounting the fact that with cheaper and easier ways of travel, social media and higher
disposable income, more and more people will be traveling within and outside the country. as domestic
tourism develops, economic and socio-cultural impacts arise, environmental protection needs to be
address.

Economic aspect- on the economic vantage point, domestic tourism contributes vastly/largely in increasing
a country’s economic activity. Domestic tourists outnumber international tourist ten times more. When in
terms of domestic tourism expenditure, it includes the expenditure of resident visitors within the country
either as domestic trip or part of an international trip have grown because of tourism. in terms of
employment, tourism and other related industries have grown considerably: 1 out of 10 jobs are tourism
related.
The tourism sector contributed 5.2% of the country's GDP in 2021, lower than the 12.7% recorded in 2019
prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and provided 5.7 million jobs in 2019. 48,260,913 international visitors
arrived from January to December 2019, up by 15.24% for the same period in 2018.8.62% (4,842,774) of
these came from East Asia, 15.84% (1,308,444) came from North America, and 6.38% (526,832) came from
other ASEAN countries. The island of Boracay, popular for its beaches, was named as the best island in the
world by Travel + Leisure in 2012. The Philippines is a popular retirement destination for foreigners
because of its climate and low cost of living.

Socio-cultural aspect- Philippine culture is a blend of the Malay-Polynesian, Hispanic and Western cultures
with some influence from the Chinese ad other Asian cultures. Having Spain colonizes Philippines for more
than 300 years and the Americans that made Filipinos a melting pot of different cultures. With, the
increasing numbers of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and international travel, Philippine culture
continues to evolve.
• Strong sense of family
• Hospitable and accommodating
• Lovers of art
• Musicians and good in playing musical instruments
• Dancers
• Faith and Gratefulness to Patrons and Saints (Town Fiesta Celebration)
Environmental Protection- as one of the major threats, continuous growth of tourism industry.
Implementation of laws and policies in favor of the environment strictly needed and enforced for tourism
development to be sustainable.
DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources has to oversee the protection of the
environment in line with tourism development.

4 A’s of Tourism
• ACCESS- land, sea and air access to and from origin to destination should be relatively fast and easy.
Roads, bridges, and ports should be developed to extent an acceptable level to accommodate the
influx of tourists.
• ATTRACTIONS- it is the main reason tourist go visit a destination. Attractions can be
cultural/heritage/historical/natural or built/man-made.
• ACCOMMODATIONS- a wide range of accommodations that vary from budget, mid-range and
deluxe. These ways, destination tends to attract tourists from a wide demographic profile. It
includes basic needs of comfortable bed, clean restrooms, good food and food service. Wi-Fi
connection access become a major necessity for tourist.
• ACTIVITIES- tourist also consider a variety of activities offer that are located close to each other.
Themes includes adventure (soft, medium, and hard-core activities), health and wellness, medical,
sports, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events)
*Activities, accommodation, and amenities should be designed with the local tourist in mind.
Trivia:
Jose Aspiras: first DOT secretary
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat: latest DOT secretary
Exotic Jeepney: Post War creation
Pandaka Pygmaea: smallest fish (Dwarf Pygmy Goby)
Rafflesia: biggest and parasitic flower
San Juanico Strait: narrowest and navigable strait
Magat Dam: biggest dam
Del Monte Pineapple Plantation: Bukidnon
Isabela: youngest city
June 18, 1995: Pope John Paul II (biggest Papal Crowd- 4 to 5 M)
Philippine Airline: 1st Asia’s Airlines (March 15, 1941)
8th billionth person: Vince Mabansag