DID YOU KNOW: Tourism accounts for 12.2% of 2017 GDP

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, tourism contributed P1.93 billion or 12.2 percent to the country’s gross domestic product in 2017.

Data from the Department of Tourism showed tourist arrivals in the Philippines reaching 6.6 million in 2017, slightly higher than the 6 million in 2016.

The biggest number of tourists were from South Korea (24.7 percent), followed by the United States (14.6 percent), China  (11.3 percent), Japan (9 percent) and Australia (4.2 percent). —Marielle Medina, Inquirer Research