INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – At least two million visitor arrivals have been recorded in the Philippines since the country eased border restrictions last February, said the Department of Tourism (DOT).
This has translated to around P100.7 billion worth of revenue in the tourism sector, surpassing its P4.94 billion record from the same period last year, according to DOT Secretary Christina Frasco in a statement on Tuesday.
Frasco then cited a DOT report as of November 14, which showed a total of 2,025,421 visitor arrivals in the country – 1,487,343 or 73.43 percent of which were foreign tourists, while 538,078 or 26.57 percent were overseas Filipinos.
“Our latest figures have reached well beyond the 1.7 million tourist projections of the DOT,” she said, noting that this reflects the demand for travel into the country and the prioritization of the government for tourism recovery.
She then added: “We, therefore, must meet this with the continued implementation of enabling mechanisms that will convey not only the country’s openness to welcome more tourists, but also conduciveness to tourism business and livelihood opportunities for our fellow Filipinos.”
Frasco also detailed that the lion’s share of foreign tourist arrivals in the country comes from the United States with 385,121, followed by South Korea and Australia with 285,583 and 96,297, respectively.
Recovering the tourism sector from the slump caused by the years-long COVID-19 pandemic is among the priorities of the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as he previously noted that tourism is a “high potential driver for the transformation [of] the economy.”
Marcos had also issued executive orders to make wearing of face masks optional in both indoor and outdoor settings which, the DOT said, could help boost the revival of the tourism industry.