THE Department of Tourism (DOT) on Tuesday expressed confidence that it would be able to meet its 6.5-million visitor-arrivals target for the year.
This developed as the agency reported an 11.54-percent increase in foreign tourists, to 5.47 million, from January to October 2017. In a news statement, the DOT attributed the higher visitor arrivals to the influx of Chinese and Indian tourists.
Data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed South Koreans continuing to top the number of foreign visitors to the Philippines, rising by 10.63 percent to 1.33 million. China edged out the United States as the second top source-market for tourists, rising by 39.28 percent to 810,807 visitors for the 10-month period in review. In third place was the US, with 785,269 tourists, increasing by 11.54 percent from the same period in 2016. In fourth place was Japan at 490,857, up 9.38 percent. In fifth place was Australia with 206,443 visitors, an increase of 3.83 percent.
Other source markets, which posted significant growths in visitor arrivals, were India at 20.28 percent to hit 88,832 tourists, and Canada at 15.72 percent to 158,225 tourists. Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said: “With the surge in Chinese and Indian arrivals, we are optimistic to hit the target of at least 6.5 million foreign visitors as set by the National Tourism Development Plan for 2016-2022.”
The Beijing government committed to send 1 million tourists to the Philippines this year, as its diplomatic relations with the Philippines thawed. The Philippines has also eased visa requirements for Indian tourists, although the DOT is also appealing to the Department of Justice to give said market the visa-on-arrival privilege. China was earlier accorded the visa-on-arrival privilege, although the Philippines was not granted the same by Beijing.
Other top source markets for tourists were Taiwan, with 205,814 arrivals (up 4.68 percent); the United Kingdom at 148,563 (up 6.18 percent); and Malaysia at 119,115 visitors (up 2.51 percent). Other major markets, however, registered decreases in arrivals, such as Singapore, which dipped by some 5 percent to 139,039, and Hong Kong, which dropped 5.98 percent to 92,902.
In terms of visitor receipts, or the amount of revenues earned by the tourism industry, the DOT recorded P242.23 billion from January to September 2017, up 36.28 percent from the same period in 2016. No visitor-receipts data were made available for October 2017.
Teo said the DOT “will continue its aggressive marketing efforts, including through social media. We will promote emerging or developing destinations to entice more visitors from across the globe.”
The DOT has just launched the “It’s More Fun on Philippine Farms” project and revived the “Bring Home a Friend” (BHAF) program as part of its strategy to reach its target of 12 million tourist arrivals by 2022.
Recently, it hosted a bevy of beauties from the Miss Universe pageants, including
Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa and her court, who went island hopping in Batanes, Camiguin and Bohol. Aside from Nel-Peters, others in the party were Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2017 Rachel Peters and 13 other women from different countries.
Teo said the trips to the island destinations will surely turn the Miss Universe representatives into “tourist ambassadors” for the Philippines. “More than anything else, they will never forget the unique and genuine Filipino hospitality accorded to them,” she stressed.
In a bid to get President Duterte to approve the hosting of the Miss Universe beauty pageant in 2018, the Miss Universe Organization has offered to help promote the Philippines and its BHAF program, by sending its titleholders on a Philippine road show, according to DOT sources.