VISITOR arrivals in the Philippines grew by 14.37 percent to 6.16 million in the first nine months of the year, latest data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) show.
As in previous months, most of the markets that powered the arrivals from abroad were South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan. Accounting for 23.55 percent of the total arrivals, tourists from South Korea increased by 20.97 percent to 1.45 million.
In second place, arrivals from China jumped by 39.43 percent to some 1.36 million, and accounting for 22.07 percent of market share. The United States ranked third among the top source of tourists for the Philippines, rising by 2.31 percent to 792,619, and accounting for 12.86 percent of total arrivals for the nine months to September.
In fourth place was Japan, with a 6.82-percent increase to 518,211 arrivals and a market share of 8.41 percent. The fifth spot was taken by Taiwan, with a 35.18-percent increase in arrivals to 252,578, and accounting for a 4.1-percent market share.
With decreased arrivals from
certain markets like Singapore and Malaysia, and the usual downtrend in inbound
tourists toward the year-end except for slight upticks in December, the DOT is
likely to miss its 8.2-million foreign
arrivals target for 2019.
For the DOT to hit its foreign arrivals goal this year, there should be an average of 680,000 inbound tourists every month in the last three months —October, November and December.
DOT officials are crossing their fingers the agency’s target of P564 billion in foreign visitor receipts would be reached this year, with Boracay Island now reopened. In 2018, inbound tourism receipts amounted to P406.7 billion, down 9 percent from 2017. It was also 14-percent off the DOT’s inbound receipts target of P473 billion of 2018.
Officials believe the opening of new international airports like Panglao in Bohol, and additional flights from abroad, such as those in Puerto Princesa would help improve the headcount, if not, the inbound revenue.
Meanwhile, visitors from Australia grew by 1.94 percent to 203,071, firmly putting it in sixth place among the Philippines’s top source markets for tourists.
It was followed by Canada at 226,446 (up 5.54 percent); the United Kingdom at 153,281 (up 3.36 percent); Singapore at 118,554 (down 9.28 percent); Malaysia at 106,078 (down 3.11 percent); India at 102,467 (up 10.67 percent); and Germany at 74,423 (up 13.2 percent).
Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat has expressed optimism that the profile of the Philippines is improving in the international community with the DOT’s recent tack to pursue sustainable tourism, especially in its island destinations.
The Philippines was invited for the first time to the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting held last October 25 and 26 in Hokkaido, Japan. “A number of the Tourism Ministers approached me and said they were so impressed that we had a carrying capacity limit [for Boracay]. We are the only country [with such a cap],” the DOT chief told the BusinessMirror.
The meetings discussed proper tourism planning, how development and management can benefit visitors and local communities, and expounded on the role of innovation and digital transformation in the advancement of sustainable tourism.
On the sidelines of the G20 tourism minister meetings, Romulo Puyat also met with Japan Land, Infrastructure, Tourism and Transportation Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba to discuss possible collaborations toward the promotion of two-way tourism between the two countries.
Japan is one of the key markets of the Philippines, with the DOT pulling all the stops—including hosting a meeting between President Duterte and Japan tourism and travel executives—to encourage more Japanese to visit. (See, “DOT chief brings her ‘Daruma doll’ to boost Japanese arrivals,” in the BusinessMirror, May 29, 2019.)
The G20 is an organization that aims to discuss and promote policy on international financial stability. It is composed of members belonging to the top 32 economies in the world in terms of gross domestic product. Member-countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, German, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. International forums and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank also participate in the G20 meetings.