DOT: Over 5 million foreign tourists so far this year

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has welcomed over five million foreign tourists so far this year, exceeding the initial yearend target for 2023, reported the Department of Tourism (DOT).

A total of 5,069,752 foreigners have visited the country as of Dec. 11, according to the agency, wherein 411,629 or 8.12 percent were Filipinos living or working overseas.

South Korea remains the Philippines’ top source of tourists, followed by the United States, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia.

The tourist arrivals so far was beyond the initial 2023 target of 4.8 million tourists, which showed the DOT’s “commitment to continuous growth for the industry and the economy,” declared DOT Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco during the presentation of the agency’s yearend report in Makati City last Dec. 12.

The current figure of tourist arrivals in the country generated revenue or tourist receipts worth P439.5 billion, she said.

She laid down the DOT’s accomplishments for this year, including the launch of the new tourism campaign “Love the Philippines,” as well as the tourist call center, the Travel Philippines app and the hop-on hop-off bus tours in Metro Manila, refurbishments at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 featuring local artisan furniture, construction of tourist rest areas in tourist destinations and development of golf, dive and cruise tourism.

She also reported the findings of the World Tourism Barometer by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, which stated that the recovery of the Philippines in terms of international tourist arrivals was at 65.54 percent from January to September this year, higher than the 62 percent average recovery rate in the Asia-Pacific region.

Looking forward to the year 2024, Frasco declared the DOT is “bullish” about the Philippines’ “continued tourism transformation” under President Marcos, who declared he hopes the country will become a “tourism powerhouse in Asia.”

She also expressed gratitude to tourism organizations that gave accolades to the Philippines, particularly to the World Travel Awards that recognized the country as the world’s leading beach and dive destination for this year.