Tourism is an important sector for Philippine economy. The travel and tourism industry contributed 5.2%% to the country's GDP in 2021; this was lower than the 12.7% recorded in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns. The country is known for having its rich biodiversity as its main tourist attraction. Popular destinations among tourists include Boracay, Palawan, and Siargao. Despite potential, the Philippines has lagged in tourism industry behind some of its Southeast Asian neighbors due to political and social problems. As of 2019, 5.7 million Filipinos have been employed in the tourism sector. In 2015, the Philippine government collected P227.62 billion pesos ( equal to 4.15 billion US$ ) from foreign tourists, almost 25% of which came from Boracay. The country attracted a total of 5,360,682 foreign visitors in 2015 through its successful tourism campaign of "It's More Fun in the Philippines". In 2019, foreign arrivals peaked at 8,260,913. The country is also home to one of the New7Wonders of Nature, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, and one of the New7Wonders Cities, the Heritage City of Vigan. It is also home to six UNESCO World Heritage Sites scattered in nine different locations, three UNESCO biosphere reserves, three UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, four UNESCO memory of the world documentary heritage, one UNESCO creative city, two UNESCO World Heritage cities, seven Ramsar wetland sites, and eight ASEAN Heritage Parks. Overview In 2011, the Department of Tourism (DOT) recorded 3.9 million tourists visiting the country, 11.2 percent higher than the 3.5 million registered in 2010. Tourist arrivals jumped to 4.27 million in 2012, after the DOT launched a widely publicized tourism marketing campaign entitled "It's More Fun In the Philippines". The 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum ranked the Philippines 79th out of 136 countries overall. The country's best-rated features were price competitiveness (22nd) and natural resources (37th). The tourism industry employed 3.8 million Filipinos, or 10.2 per cent of national employment, in 2011, according to data gathered by the National Statistical Coordination Board. The official heritage properties of the Philippines are listed under the National Government's Philippine Registry of Cultural Property (PRECUP), Pinagmulan: Enumeration from the Philippine Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS). Properties registered among those lists are heralded as possible nominations to the UNESCO World Heritage List, where at least 16 declarations containing 19 properties have