Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco of the Department of Tourism. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s tourism industry reached an “all-time high” in revenue from international visitors in 2024 despite not meeting the target for arrivals that year.
Speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing on Friday, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the sector earned over P760 billion from 5.4 million foreign travelers last year.
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“This represents over a 9% increase from our 2023 visitor revenues and a 126% recovery from the 600 billion visitor receipts in 2019,” she also said.
Frasco said this record-breaking earning was commendable despite not achieving the 7.7 million target arrivals for 2024.
In the briefing, Frasco explained geopolitical issues as one of the reasons for the decline in tourists.
“Nobody could have anticipated that geopolitics would ultimately affect the arrival of tourists from China, especially since electronic visas for the Chinese market were suspended. This is in stark contrast to the policies of our Asean neighbors, where Chinese visitors either don’t need a visa or can obtain one upon arrival,” she said.
“So, napakalaking challenge nito kasi originally iyong prinoject [project] namin ay upwards to 2 million iyong dadating na Chinese tourists, iyong dumating lang by the end of 2024 was a little over 300,000,” she continued.
(This has been a significant challenge because our original projection was that over 2 million Chinese tourists would arrive. However, by the end of 2024, only a little over 300,000 actually came.)
Doubling down efforts for more foreign guests
Meanwhile, Frasco said that the Department of Tourism is intensifying its efforts to attract more tourists from South Korea, which remains the Philippines’ number one source market for tourists.
“Kasama na rin diyan iyong ating mga turista from the United States especially with the new direct flights that have been mounted from the US that include San Francisco to Manila, Seattle to Manila, and the like. Kasali rin diyan iyong Japan,” she said.
(This also includes tourists from the United States, especially with the new direct flights from the US, such as San Francisco to Manila, Seattle to Manila, and others. Japan is also part of this.)
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“Of course, we are very grateful that tourists from Australia are now trooping to the Philippines in appreciation of our award-winning islands and destinations. And shempre, iyong tinitingnan natin na large opportunity for the Philippines is India,” Frasco continued.
The tourism department is also “grateful” that tourists from Australia are now flocking to the Philippines, especially its award-winning islands and destinations.