Philippines reaches 2023 target of 4.8M tourists - DOT

The Department of Tourism (DOT) reached its target of 4.8 million visitor arrivals for 2023 this month, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said on Tuesday during the 1st Philippine Golf Tourism Summit at the Grand Hyatt Manila.

From January to November, a total of 4,822,530 visitors, consisting of 91.88% foreign tourists and 8.12% returning overseas Filipinos. The breached the DOT’s target arrivals before the end of the year and ahead of the holiday season.

South Korea was the Philippines’ top source of foreign arrivals with 1,271,602 visitors or 26.37%, followed by the United States of America with 797,181 visitors or 16.53%, Japan with 272,735 visitors or 5.66%, China with 242,107 visitors or 5.02% and Australia with 225,464 visitors or 4.68%.

Frasco said the total visits have racked up to P404 billion is foreign visitor receipts, marking tourism as the second highest driver of economic growth for the Philippines and one of the “foundational pillars for the country’s inclusive growth and economic revival.”

“This cements our position as one of the strongest pillars of the Philippine economy that employs no less than 5.35 million Filipinos in the tourism industry sector, ensuring jobs, livelihood and the well-being of communities all over the country,” the secretary said.

“Tourism continues to drive growth and provide income and jobs nationwide,” she added.

She credited the National Tourism Development Plan 2023 to 2028, as well as initiatives such as the liberalization of visa policies, tourist rest areas, tourist call centers, tourism roads and further tourism development.

“We are beginning to see the merits of our strategies towards increasing connectivity, ambience, and equality in tourism development and promotions, as well as the invaluable partnership of our tourism stakeholders in the private sector,” she said.

Meanwhile, the DOT Secretary also expressed interest in delving into golf tourism through utilizing the Philippines’ 100 golf courses, including the Santa Barbara Golf Course that was established in 1907,  one of the oldest golf courses in Asia .

“It’s about time that the government and the private sector come together to converge and to collaborate. Gold tourism represents a promising frontier for the Philippines and this summit highlights our proactive approach in understanding, nurturing, listening to the gold tourism industry and developing this niche as part of our tourism industry portfolio,” she said. —RF, GMA Integrated News