3.5 M tourists visited country, mostly Koreans

Manila— More than 3.5-million foreigners have so far visited or entered the Philippines this year,  according to the Bureau of Immigration.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said in a press statement that as of Dec. 20, a total of 3,580,647 foreigners had entered the country, which is 128,979 or 3.7 percent more than the 3,451,668 who arrived from January to December last year.

The international travelers arrived in the different ports of entry nationwide, but most of them came in via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country’s premiere port.

Koreans topped the list with 882,804 arrivals.

They were  followed by 707,160 Americans, 373,335 Japanese, 271,703 Chinese, 171,544 Australians, 135,696 Taiwanese, 131,139 Britons, 129,802 Canadians, 94,361 Malaysians, and 89,329 Singaporeans.

David said the number was expected to go up further as the figure does not include arrivals from Dec. 21.

He said that the statistics include all international travelers—tourists, investors, expatriates, students, and balikbayans with foreign passports.

He noted that the number of foreign visitor arrivals rose despite the travel advisories issued by various governments warning their citizens against going to the Philippines due to terror threats.

In June, the United States issued a travel advisory warning of likely terror attacks in the Philippines.

Acting immigration regulation chief Danilo Almeda said that based on the statistics, the advisories “did little to dampen foreigners’ interest in the Philippines.”

In the  same period, Filipinos who came from abroad totaled 3.83 million, bringing the number of international travelers who arrived this year to more than 7.4 million.  /INQUIRER