The Department of Tourism (DOT) expressed confidence in sustaining the country’s tourism gains under the Marcos administration, with international visitor arrivals to the Philippines breaching the 1.2-million mark in just a little over the first two months of 2024.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco made the announcement at the Philippine Pavilion at the Internationale Tourismus-Borse (ITB) 2024 Convention in Berlin, Germany.
“I would like to express my profound gratitude first to all our Philippine sellers who continue to champion Philippine tourism. As of today, [March 5], the Philippines has received over 1.2 million international visitors: a robust indication of the future of Philippine tourism. Cheers to all the reasons to celebrate and Love the Philippines,” Frasco said as she offered a toast to the successful first day of the country’s participation in the ITB 2024.
“As of March 5, international tourist arrivals to the Philippines have tallied 1,227,815.”
Based on the DOT’s report for January to March 2024 as of March 5, international tourist arrivals to the Philippines have tallied 1,227,815.
Foreign tourist arrivals took the lion’s share, with 1,160,129 or 94.49 percent.
Meanwhile, 67,686 or 5.51 percent consist of Overseas Filipinos (OFs).
“This is 22.86% higher than the 999,390 arrivals received by the country in the same period in 2023.”
According to the tourism chief, this is 22.86 percent higher than the 999,390 arrivals received by the country in the same period in 2023.
In terms of international visitor arrivals, South Korea remains the country’s top source market for visitors with 349,956 or 28.50 percent of the total, followed by the United States of America (USA) with 195,603 or 15.93 percent, China with 85,876 (6.99%), Japan with 73,159 (5.96%), and Canada landing on the fifth spot with 50,555 (4.12%).
Meanwhile, Australia took the sixth spot with 50,488 (4.11%), Taiwan with 42,955 (3.50%), United Kingdom with 30,507 (2.48%), Singapore with 25,253 (2.06%), and Germany with 20,816 (1.70%).
Notably, the DOT is also seeing an increase in terms of estimated visitor receipts.
Based on data from the Visitor Sample Survey, estimated visitor receipts for January 2024 have totaled $652.26 million, or 4.84 percent higher than the $622.14 million recorded in January 2023.
It may be recalled that in 2023, the Philippines received over 5.45 million international visitor arrivals, successfully breaching the 4.8 million arrivals target set by the industry. This year, the country has a baseline target of 7.7 million arrivals.
