Department of Tourism

Started as a private initiative to promote the Philippines as a major travel destination, the Philippine Tourist & Travel Association was organized in 1950. In 1956, the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry was created by Congress As stipulated in the Integrated Reorganization Plan in 1972 sanctioned as a law under Presidential Decree No. 2, as amended, the Department of Trade and Tourism was established, reorganizing the then Department of Commerce and Industry. A Philippine Tourism Commission was created under the unified Trade and Tourism Department to oversee the growth of the tourism industry as a source of economic benefit for the country. In 1973, President Ferdinand Marcos created a new cabinet-level Department of Tourism (DOT) by splitting the Department of Trade and Tourism into two separate departments. Included in the new Department of Tourism, the agency Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) and the Philippine Convention Bureau (PCB) were created. The Department of Tourism was then renamed the Ministry of Tourism as a result of the shift in the form of government pursuant to the enforcement of the 1973 Constitution. In 1986, under Executive Order Nos. 120 and 120-A signed by President Corazon Aquino, the Department of Tourism was reorganized and, correspondingly, the Convention Bureau was renamed the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation, and the Intramuros Administration was attached, previously being under the defunct Ministry of Human Settlements. In 1998, the Department of Tourism assumed a prominent role in the culmination of the centennial celebration of the country's independence from the Spanish Empire in 1898. In 2003, the Department of Tourism initiated one of its most successful tourism promotion projects, WOW Philippines', under Secretary (now Senator) Richard J. Gordon. The latest improvements in the tourism industry in the country came about with the passage of Republic Act No. 9593 or the "Tourism Act of 2009."

This is the building where the Department of Tourism is housed and where all the executives and their managers hold office. There's a tourism information center at the street level which is accessible from the front entrance which leads to Gil Puyat avenue in Makati. The current slogan being pushed is "it's more fun in the Philippines!"

Amazing service. Very helpful. Thank you so much!

Along jupiter street, in front of korea garden. That's the entrance. Confusing since the front of the office faces sen gil puyat. Tsk. ☺

It's more fun in the Philippines! DOT doing great job with Sec. Wanda Tulfo-Teo.