PH Records Highest Tourist Arrivals in 2018
Over 7.1 million international tourists swarmed the Philippines in 2018 spiking a new record in the country’s tourism history, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said in a press release.
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IMAGE DOT Facebook
DOT presented a surging 7,127,168 tourists, rising from 6,620,908 or 7.68 percent visitors recorded in 2017. This increase happened amidst various infrastructure projects and tourism spots’ rehabilitation.
Most of the visitors came from South Korea, registering 1,587,959, followed by China with 1,255,258 and the United States with 1,034,396. This is followed by Japan and Australia, listing 631,801 and 279,821 visitors, respectively.
Other visitors include Taiwan (240,842), Canada (226,429), United Kingdom (201,039), Singapore (171,795), Malaysia (145,242), India (121,124), and Hong Kong (117,984).
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s World Tourism Barometer, the country’s tourism growth rate exceeded the global average growth in Asia and the Pacific, hauling in a six percent in ratings.
“This is a time that celebrates the 7.1 million tourist arrival count—the highest ever in our country’s history, while at the same time championing the cause of an economic activity that can support and transform lives of common Filipinos,” DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat claimed in a statement.
The month of January and December recorded the highest foreign visitors, with 732,506 and 687,726, respectively, a 12.12 percent increase from 2017.
IMAGE DOT Facebook
The closing of Boracay Island is one of the crucial happenings that hindered DOT’s goal of hitting 7.4 visitors.
However, the closure of the famous island created opportunities for other tourist attraction such as Palawan, Siargao, Siquijor, and others in buoying the number of foreign visitors.
“The challenging act of closing down Boracay—a flagship destination, the country’s top sun-and-beach destination has evidently become a blessing in disguise for secondary tourism spots to have a share of the lime light and attention they truly deserve,” Puyat said.
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“It shows that turning off the faucet when the water is unclear can bring a fresher flow in just an unexpected period of time. With this, we have also seen the transition from a mass tourism perspective shifting into high-value tourism direction that prioritizes quality over mere quantity,” Puyat added.
Source: pia.gov.ph, DOT Facebook
