The Department of Tourism (DOT) has teamed up with global payments firm Visa to expand digital payment acceptance in major tourist destinations, strengthen micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and support data-driven tourism planning in the Philippines.
The partnership, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on November 27 at the DOT headquarters in Makati, is aimed at helping local businesses adopt digital payment tools and providing travelers with more seamless and secure cashless options.
The collaboration comes amid shifting traveler behavior across Asia Pacific. A recent Visa study found that 97% of respondents plan to bring debit, credit, or prepaid cards on their travels, while only 17% expect to carry foreign currency. Tourism remains a key economic driver for the Philippines, contributing 8.9% to GDP and accounting for 13.8% of employment in 2024.
Under the MoU, Visa and the DOT will work on programs that use data insights to improve tourism planning, promote digital payment adoption among MSMEs, and build digital literacy within local communities.
Visa cited similar initiatives overseas that produced measurable results. In Mexico, its partnership with tourism authorities helped 3.9 million small merchants begin accepting digital payments. In Japan, Visa collaborated with the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka Tourism Bureau to support the government’s goal of reaching a 40% cashless payment ratio by 2025.
“We hope to empower the people in the Philippines, particularly those in the tourism sector, through the power of Visa’s global network and leadership in technology,” said Bella Lai, regional head for Southeast Asia at Visa Government Solutions.
“We aim to collaborate in key areas such as data-driven tourism, provide insights, promote MSME digitization and innovation, enhance capacity-building, and improve financial literacy for our tourism stakeholders.”
