3. Tourism Circuit Planning for Subnational Tourism Development in the Philippines

The 2011–2016 Philippine National Tourism Development Plan is based on a destination development framework that identified 77 priority tourism destination areas (TDAs) in 21 regional clusters. The chapter provides an integrated case study of the tourism circuit planning approach adopted to operationalize the priority TDAs in 16 provinces, through a joint development program of the Philippine and Canadian governments. The project outcomes suggest that the destinations are becoming more competitive, as indicated by increasing employment, tourism-related investment, and visitor arrivals by program’s end in 2016. Correspondence with provincial project officers suggests that the tourism circuit approach can spread the tourism benefits more widely. The approach also highlights the need for regional, multi-stakeholder solutions for tourism growth, competitiveness, and sustainability. Unstable local government tourism institutions were seen to constrain the continuity of tourism development efforts. The lack of reliable data also highlighted the need for subnational indicators of tourism sustainability and competitiveness. The circuit approach can be considered for subnational tourism planning where there are active stakeholder participation, strong public-private partnerships, and effective destination management leadership. Concrete results were demonstrated where both local government and private sector were actively engaged in the circuit development plans. At the same time, strong institutional and individual leadership sustained the local partnerships’ energy and the momentum for change within the destination.