Over 2 mn tourists visit Philippines since Feb

Manila, Nov 15 Over 2 million tourists have visited the Philippines since February, raking in over $1.76 billion in revenue, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said on Tuesday.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said 2,025,421 visitors arrived in the Philippines as of November 14, reports Xinhua news agency.

DOT data showed that 1,487,343, or 73.43 per cent of the total tourist arrivals were foreign tourists, while 538,078, or 26.57 per cent were overseas Filipinos.

Frasco said the number of tourists that came to visit was well beyond the 1.7 million the DOT projected.

"This goes to show that there is such a huge demand for travel into our beautiful country," she said, adding that the government's move to prioritize tourism is "on the right track to recovery."

The DOT said the tourist arrivals from February to September this year raked in 100.7 billion pesos ($1.76 billion) in revenue, a 1,938 per cent increase from 4.94 billion pesos recorded in the same period last year.

The DOT data showed that the US, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Britain were primary sources of tourists that landed in the Philippines.

Other countries that made it to the top 10 list of foreign visitors were Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Frasco stressed the need to continue implementing measures that will send the message to the world that the Philippines is welcoming more tourists.

She said the tourism department expects around 2.4 million tourists to visit the Philippines by the end of 2022, adding that the country, famous for pristine and white-sand beaches, remains one of the top destinations for tourists around the world.

In October, President Ferdinand Marcos said the tourism industry is one of the "high potential drivers for the transformation (of) the economy" as the country recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.