LAOANG, Northern Samar—Ambassador of South Korea to the Philippines Han Dong-man said his government is committed to bring in more tourists to the country despite the closure of Boracay, one of the most preferred destinations of South Koreans.
At a road project groundbreaking, Han revealed that Korean tourists would visit the country this year to visit world-class sites and increase their contribution to the local economy.
“I promise…to bring in 2 million tourists to the Philippines every year and increase tourism receipts from $15 billion to $20 billion,” the South Korean diplomat declared.
Based on records from the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Bureau of Immigration, South Koreans topped the number of foreign visitors in 2017, followed by Chinese and Japanese travelers.
Around 1.6 million South Korean tourists flew in the previous year, with Boracay and Cebu as their favorite destinations.
The DOT is targeting to achieve 7.4 million tourist arrivals this year, higher than the 6.5-million target in 2017. The country welcomed 6.6 million tourists in 2017, higher than the 5.97 million in 2016.
According to Han, he will continue to strengthen the relationship between his country, and the Philippines by improving the business climate in the country, as well.
“Every time I meet [with] South Korean businessmen, I always tell them to ‘invest, invest, invest’ in the Philippines to support President Duterte’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program,” he exhorted his compatriots, and added, “This is the right time to repay the Philippines [as they helped] us during the great Korean War.”
Image credits: Philippine Army