The Philippines aims to draw in 7.7 million international visitors in the coming year, surpassing its arrival goals for 2023, as stated by the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Tuesday.
“I understand that this is not yet our pre-pandemic numbers of 2019 at over 8.2 million international arrivals but what I can assure you is that we will push as hard as we can and fully activate our convergences with other government agencies in order to reach this target,” Tourism Chief Christina Frasco said during a reception in Makati City.
Frasco mentioned that the nation has welcomed a cumulative count of 5,069,752 international visitors since January. Despite being among the last in Southeast Asia to resume tourism post-pandemic, she noted the remarkable resilience displayed by Philippine tourism throughout the year.
DOT reported that the Philippines has achieved a 66 percent recovery in international tourist arrivals during the same period. Frasco highlighted a faster-than-expected rebound in tourism receipts, totaling PHP 458 billion from January to November, equivalent to 96 percent of the 2019 figures.
Among the 2023 arrival statistics, the DOT stated that 4,658,123 (91.88 percent) were foreign tourists, while 411,629 (8.12 percent) were overseas Filipinos. South Korea emerged as the top source market with 1,341,029 arrivals, followed by the United States with 836,694, Japan with 285,655, China with 252,171, and Australia with 238,487.
