DOT targets 7.7 million international arrivals for 2024

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has set a target to reach over 7.7 million international arrivals for 2024.

In a statement on Thursday, DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said that although the figure is lower than the arrival count in 2019 of over 8.2 million it is a step closer towards returning to pre-pandemic levels.

“What I can assure you is that we will push as hard as we can and fully activate our convergences with other government agencies in order to breach this target and bring us closer to pre-pandemic numbers even as we grapple with many forces beyond our control, globally, and locally,” Frasco said.

The Tourism chief expressed her gratitude to domestic and foreign tourists who traveled to and around the country in 2023.

"The world has loved the Philippines in 2023, and we are very garetful to our friends from all over the world who have affirned na 'yung Pilipinas po ay nagpapatuloy bilang World's Leading Beah and Dive Destination, Asia's Best Cruise Destination, pati na run po 'yung isa ang Pilipinas among vie countries in the world awarded as a Global Tourism Resilience awardee," Franco said.

Earlier, DOT announced the Philippines reached its 2023 target tourist arrivals of 4.8 million in November.

Frasco said the numbers solidified the position of tourism as one of the strongest pillars of the Philippine economy, and that these can be credited to the initiatives of the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2023 to 2028. The industry employs 5.35 million Filipinos according to the DOT chief.

“Tourism continues to drive growth and provide income and jobs nationwide. 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. –RF, GMA Integrated News