BI projects over 4 million overseas arrivals for Q4

Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco on Tuesday projected that the Philippines would register more than 4 million overseas arrivals in the last three months of 2023.

Tansingco’s optimism stemmed from the latest data showing the bureau was able to process 8,117,286 Filipino and foreign passengers from January to September 2023.

“We are getting there. The significant increase in arriving passengers shows that tourism and international travel are already on the rebound,” he said.

According to the Department of Tourism, the Philippines welcomed 4,005,465 tourists from January 1 to September 29, 2023, contributing P316 billion to the economy.

Tansingco added that the BI supported the DOT’s efforts in simplifying processes for passenger arrivals to ensure a greater tourist experience in the Philippines.

“We are procuring more e-gates for faster immigration processing. Through technology, we can work around the limited space that we have at airports and improve the passenger experience,” he said.

The BI recorded 2,873,423 arrivals from January to September 2022, way below the pre-pandemic figure of more than 11 million. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News