Inquirer file photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) noted a rise in international travel during the month of June, attributing the spike to the school break that allowed families to have their vacations abroad.
“In April, we only saw an average of around 32,000 passengers a day, but in June that number rose to around 36,000,” Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement on Sunday.
In April, the BI said a total of 946,092 departed via Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals, while in May, there were 979,720 departures.
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For June, the bureau recorded 1,072,651 international departures and anticipates it to rise or remain high in July.
“Revenge travel is real and is still very much evident. After the pandemic, a lot of people are itching to travel. After the end of classes, a lot of families saw the opportunity to take their vacations,” Tansingco said.
The immigration chief advised international travelers to arrive early and check in at least three hours before their flights to have ample time for airport procedures.
Immigration officers ready
“We are assuring that all our counters are fully manned, and our officers are working doubly hard to process everyone in a timely manner,” Tansingco said.
The spike in outbound travel was reported after the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced in April that over 2 million international visitors arrived in the country during the first quarter, with South Koreans topping the list of inbound arrivals.
P158-B tourism receipts
The country’s tourism receipts from Jan. 1 to March 31 have also accounted for around P157.62 billion, which translates to an estimated 120.70 percent recovery rate from the P130.59 billion revenue gained from the same period in 2019.
Based on the DOT’s monitoring data, a total of 2,010,522 international visitors entered the country, with 94.21 percent or 1,894,076 of the country’s total international arrivals, delivered by foreign tourists and about 5.79 percent or 116,446 are overseas Filipinos.
This is 15.11 percent higher than the international arrivals recorded in the same period last year, pegged at 1,746,630.
South Korea remains the Philippines’ top source market in terms of inbound visitor arrivals with 27.19 percent or 546,726, followed by the United States with 315,816 (15.71 percent), China with 130,574 (6.49 percent), Japan with 123,204 (6.13 percent), and Australia with 88,048 (4.38 percent).
Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Germany ranked sixth to tenth, respectively.
According to Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, the country aims to welcome 7.7 million international visitors this year. The country welcomed 8.26 million tourists in 2019.