Tourist arrivals hit year-high 6.27% growth in August

MANILA, Philippines - Tourist arrivals in August rose at its fastest pace this year, helped by the government’s intensified marketing campaign and the continued development of tourism infrastructure projects nationwide.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed foreign visitor arrivals  went up 6.27 percent in August, with Korean nationals still leading the pack.

For the first eight months of 2014, the number of tourists reached nearly 3.27 million or 2.72 percent more than in the same period last year.

“The growth in arrivals could be attributed to the marketing efforts and participation of the country in international travel fairs, as well as tourism infrastructure development being undertaken,” the DOT said.

An estimated P144 billion in revenues were generated during the period from the spending of the inbound tourists.

The East Asian region, with Korea, Japan and China at the forefront, remained the biggest source of foreign visitors in the Philippines, accounting for almost half of total traffic base.

North American countries (the US and Canada) contributed 18 percent to total inbound traffic, while Asean neighbors led by Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam comprisede 9.26 percent of the total visitor count during the eight-month period.

Arrivals from Australasia/Pacific and the Northern European region also substantially grew during the period.

By specific country, South Korea continued to provide the biggest volume of arrivals with 783,852, constituting 24 percent of  total market.

The DOT said the Korean market recovered from its slump since December 2013 to post a growth of 5.64 percent for the month of August 2014. 

The US market contributed the second biggest arrivals by capturing 15.1 percent of total visitor volume, numbering 493,338. The Japanese market accounted for 9.51 percent market share with 310,901 arrivals.

Third were visitors from China, followed by those from Australia.

Other foreign tourists came from Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Germany.

From the emerging markets, the notable visitors were from Vietnam, Italy, India, New Zealand, Spain, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.