Foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines has reached a record 6-million-plus mark in the first nine months of the year, registering a 14%+ improvement on last year’s numbers.
The 3rd Quarter Tourist Arrival Data from the Department of Tourism are looking very good with foreign arrivals numbering 6,161,503 from January to September, a 14.37 percent increase from the 5,387,458 arrivals in the same period last year.
Even during September’s traditionally lean months, the tourism industry has experienced a surge of 17.09 percent increase with 606,553 arrivals.
“The figures look very promising, and we are glad that more tourists are visiting us in light of the accolades received by the Philippines and our destinations throughout the year,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.
Korea remained the country’s top visitors with a 23% increase over a nine-month period with 1,450,792 arrivals compared to 1.18 million arrivals last year.
China follow closely with 1,359,817 arrivals, a 39.8 percent increase from the 972,500 Chinese arrivals a year ago.
The United States has the third spot with 792,619 arrivals, Japan registered 518,211 arrivals, coming in fourth. Taiwan landed at the fifth spot with 252,578 arrivals.
The increase arrival of foreign guests has become a boon in the country’s tourism industry and economy. This success is further supported by recognition of the many efforts and hard work of people in the tourism sector.
The Philippines was ranked in the 8th spot on the 20 Most Favorite Countries in the World of the Condé Nast Traveler (CNT) Readers’ Choice Awards, in which the Philippines received a 90.63 score among the 600,000 readers of the New York-based luxury and travel magazine.
The Philippines received the honor as Asia’s Leading Dive Destination by the 2019 World Travel Awards (WTA) during the Asia and Oceania gala held last October in Phu Quoc, Vietnam.
Furthermore, Japan Tourism Awards (JTA) also presented DOT Philippines with its “Excellent Partner Award” for the agency’s crucial role in the closure and successful rehabilitation of the tourist-favorite Boracay Island, during the opening of the Tourism Expo Japan last month.
“While these awards prove prudence in our efforts to bolster Philippine tourism, ultimately, what keeps us doing what we do in the DOT is seeing more of our countrymen revel in the positive impacts of genuine sustainable tourism,” Puyat said.
Foreign tourist arrivals in the 2nd quarter broke the 4-million mark, besting the 2018 numbers, continuing to improve on the 2018 numbers which registered a record-high 7.1million visitors.
SEND congratulations in the comments below to the tourism sector for drawing record-breaking numbers of foreign tourists to the Philippines!
Like, Follow, Subscribe to GoodNewsPilipinas.com Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Good News Pilipinas! TV on YouTube, new story notifications and e-mail newsletters for updates on more Filipino Pride stories.
