With a positive outlook of a 15 percent sustained growth this year, Philippine tourism is a humming industry with forecasts of increased total tourist traffic in the coming years and more infrastructure facilities to meet the demands of the growing market.

“Overall, tourism’s performance during the previous year was very good with a 14 percent increase in the total tourist traffic of 8.9 million,” Secretary Joseph Ace Durano of the Department of Tourism (DoT) said during the opening last Friday of the 17th Travel Tour Expo of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) at the SMX Convention Center.

Durano said the growth in the tourism sector has been fuelling all the expansions being seen all over the country, like the construction of new hotels, resorts and other tourist facilities.

“This is what you are feeling and seeing and we are expecting a sustained growth of 15 percent this year,” he added.

Durano was guest of honor during the opening of the 17th Travel Tour Expo which is considered as the country’s biggest annual travel and tourism event. With the theme “Ready, Jet Set, Go!” the expo offers until Sunday, February 21, the widest range of packages both for inbound and outbound travel.

The expo features 230 travel and tourism companies from the Philippines, Asia, Middle East, North America, and Europe, representing the biggest number of participants in Travel Tour Expo history.

Also participating in the event are international tourism agencies like Atout France, China National Tourist Office in Singapore, Egyptian Consulate Tourism Office, Guam Visitors Bureau, Hong Kong Tourism Board, India Tourism, Japan National Tourism Organization, Korea Tourism Organization, Macau Government Tourism Office, Palau Visitors Authority, Sabah Tourism Board, Tourism Malaysia, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.