By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
THE country’s tourism sector earned some P149 billion from foreign visitors in the period of January to July. This represented a significant 14-percent gain from the same period last year, latest data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) show.
On a monthly basis, the DOT said the month of February recorded the highest tourism receipts at P27.5 billion, as well as the biggest increase at 42.09 percent compared to February 2015.
The cumulative arrivals for the period in review also showed how many tourists had fun in the Philippines. Some 3.54 million visitors arrived in the country from January to July, up 13.83 percent from the same period last year.
Substantial growth in arrivals was recorded for China at 64.51 percent to 422,801 visitors, and Taiwan at 30.5 percent to 136,019 visitors.
Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, however, registered dips in arrivals by 1.09 percent, 7.3 percent and 1.71 percent for the seven-month period.
Of the total arrivals, South Korea remained as the top source market for tourists for the period at 828,911, up 8.74 percent. However, the growth in the South Korean travelers slowed down from the 15.11-percent expansion recorded in January to July 2015.
Asked to comment, Tourism Assistant Secretary Rolando Cañizal told the BusinessMirror there was “nothing in particular” that could be pinpointed as contributing to the slowdown. “There are really times that the growth rates are slower for certain periods,” he said.
Other analysts averred, however, that the slowdown could be attributed to the fact that many South Koreans have started living in the Philippines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in South Korea estimated that close to 90,000 of its citizens were living and working in the Philippines as of 2015.
But Cañizal believes otherwise. He explained that “there are times when there are a lot of honeymooners and ESL [English as a Second Language] students” in the country, but the DOT has yet to compile data to support this notion.
Other top source markets for tourists were the United States at 529,069 (up 9.96 percent); China at 422,801 (up 64.51 percent); Japan at 305,090 (up 9.4 percent); and Australia at 145,441 (up 5.97 percent).
This was followed by Taiwan; Singapore, with 106,233 arrivals; Canada, with 103,970 (up 11.31 percent); the United Kingdom, with 103,853 (up 13.83 percent); Malaysia, with 84,319; and Hong Kong, with 72,190. India dislodged Germany as the 12th-largest source of tourists at 53,496, growing by 25.41 percent during the period of review.
For his part, Tourism Spokesman and Assistant Secretary Frederick M. Alegre said of the latest tourism report: “The double-digit growths we are experiencing in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts indicate the foreign tourists’ continued confidence in the Philippines.”
He added: “The peaceful transition of the government was pivotal not only in driving these numbers, but also in telling the whole world that the Philippines is, and remains, a safe place to travel for foreign visitors and Filipinos alike. As President Duterte addresses peace and order issues, and build more infrastructure to tourism destinations, we are confident that we will be able to double our visitor arrivals to 12 million in 2022.”