Tourist arrivals up 13%

Foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines rose 13 percent to 1.31 million in the first four months of the year, putting the government on track to meet its target of 3.74 million this year.

“By reaching this figure in the first four months of the year alone, our 3.74 million target for the year is well within reach,” Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said Monday in a press briefing.

Lim cautioned that the four-month period was a peak season for foreign tourists and that the Philippines was “entering a low season by the middle of the year.”

He said the Tourism Department’s promotional efforts abroad, especially trade fairs abroad, had paid off and would assure the Philippines of achieving the target.

The department noted an increase of arrivals from all regional markets during the four-month period.

East Asia accounted for over half, or 581,551, of the tourist volume in the first four months of the year, up 19 percent year-on-year.

Korea was again the country’s top source of tourists, with arrivals increasing 28 percent to 286,018. Korean tourists accounted for almost 22 percent of the total traffic in the Philippines.

United States remained at second place with 229,000 visitors, followed by Japan with 129,223.

The three countries accounted for almost half of all foreign visitor arrivals in the first four months of the year.

Taiwan was the region’s biggest gainer, with tourist arrivals rising 43 percent to 55,662 visitors year-on-year.

Lim earlier raised concerns that tourist arrivals from Taiwan might declined, after Manila deported to China 14 Taiwanese who were accused of running a scam to victimize Chinese citizens in mainland China, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Taiwan’s representative demanded an apology from the Philippines for deporting the 14 Taiwanese and threatened to stop the hiring of more Filipino workers in the island.

Visitors from China, meanwhile, grew 19 percent to 71,113 from January to April.

Tourists from South Asia and Eastern Europe, which include emerging single markets India and Russia, recorded the highest improvement of 44 percent and 28 percent, respectively. –Jeremiah F. de Guzman, Manila Standard Today