Chinese top tourist arrivals in April — DOT

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese topped the list of foreign tourists who visited the Philippines in April this year, records from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed yesterday.

Based on the DOT’s “Top Visitor Markets,” a total of 139,177 Chinese tourists arrived in the country last April. The figure is 27 percent higher than the 109,789 Chinese who visited the Philippines during the same period in 2018.

However, some quarters said the number of Chinese tourists may include those who were issued special permits by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to work in online gaming operations.

Under the country’s immigration policy, tourist visa holders technically remain as tourists for six months during the duration of their work.

The BI issues special working permits to foreigners who will be in the country for less than six months, such as artists and athletes.

South Korea was second with 130,707 tourists, up by 14 percent compared to 114,973 South Korean visitors last year.

Travelers from the US ranked third with 87,710 guests, or three percent higher than the 85,573 visitors last year, followed by Japan with 57,724 and Australia with 28,683 tourists.

According to the DOT, the number of tourist arrivals in the country was taken from the arrival/departure cards and shipping manifests recorded by the BI in April.

The DOT said a majority of the Chinese visitors entered the Philippines through the airports in Manila, followed by Kalibo in Aklan, Cebu and Clark in Pampanga. 

The South Koreans arrived in the country through the airports in Cebu followed by Manila, Kalibo in Aklan and Clark in Pampanga. 

Based on the DOT’s ranking of foreign tourists, South Korea topped the list of visitors in the country from January to March this year followed by China, US, Japan and Australia.