MANILA - The Department of Tourism (DOT) expressed a bullish outlook for Philippine tourism as it surpassed its year-end target, originally pegged at 4.8 million tourist arrivals.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco reported that as of December 12, international visitor arrivals in the country have reached 5.070 million, contributing P439.5 billion in receipts.

Of this number, 4,658,123 or 91.88 percent were foreign tourists, while the remaining 411,629 or 8.12 percent were overseas Filipinos.

South Korea ranks first as the Philippines’ top source market with 1,341,029 arrivals, followed by the United States of America (USA) with 836,694; Japan with 285,655; China with 252,171; and Australia with 238,487. Meanwhile, Canada landed on the sixth place with 206,571, followed by Taiwan with 186,140, United Kingdom with 141,516, Singapore with 140,633, and Malaysia with 92,383.

These figures also mean jobs for Filipinos. In 2022, the tourism industry created 5.35 million jobs with just 2.6 million visitor arrivals. This means that 11 out of every 100 Filipinos employed are working in tourism.

“We are optimistic this number will increase this year, anticipating that we will have twice as much foreign visitors that we received last year. In pursuit of this growth direction, we are dedicated to creating a tourism landscape that is not only vibrant but also innovative,” Frasco said during her presentation of the DOT’s accomplishments before tourism stakeholders and media.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has approved the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2023-2028, which serves as the DOT’s roadmap, focusing on connectivity, convenience, and equality.

For 2023, the DOT facilitated the construction of Tourist Rest Areas (TRAs) in various locations across the country, setup a 24/7 tourist assistance center, launched Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) buses in Makati and Manila, spearheaded the aesthetic enhancement of NAIA, and coordinated with various government agencies for several other tourism projects.

Frasco also wants more direct flights between the Philippines and more destinations. So far, direct flights between Manila and San Francisco have been mounted successfully. Recently, Italian ambassador to the Philippines Marco Clemente also bared talks on possible direct flights to Italy.

“We want more direct flights of course to the US because they are our number one market and also to Europe…I have already made a request for PAL to study direct flights to Italy,” Frasco said.

The DOT is hoping to further improve tourist arrivals in the Philippines by up to 7.7 million in 2024. Frasco also said the “Love The Philippines” enhanced branding campaign is here to stay.