MANILA — The Philippines recorded more than 2 million international arrivals in the first half of 2023, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Sunday, noting that the number surpassed its baseline target last year.

In a forum in Makati City Sunday, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said the country recorded 2,002,304 international visitor arrivals from Jan. 1 to May 12, 2023.

This, Frasco noted, exceeded the DOT’s target of 1.7 million foreign visitors for the entire 2022.

• Gov't announces shift to new online registration platform for incoming travelers
• Philippines targets nearly 5 million foreign tourists this year

Almost a quarter of the international arrivals were from South Korea, with 487,502 or 24.35 percent of foreign visitors coming from that country alone.

Also topping the list of foreign arrivals to the Philippines are the following:

• United States: 352,894
• Australia: 102,494
• Canada: 98,593
• Japan: 97,329
• China: 75,043
• Taiwan: 62,654
• United Kingdom: 62,291
• Singapore: 53,359
• Malaysia: 36,789

The tourism department also recorded P168.52 billion in inbound visitor receipts from January to April, over 700 percent higher than the P19 billion in tourism revenues generated in the same period last year.

Frasco said that the development reflected Filipinos’ resilience amid the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which she also said did not “diminish the beauty of the Philippines.”



• SLIDESHOW: Colorful welcome for cruise ship guests as PH opens doors wide for tourism

“Because of the priority given for Philippine tourism by the Marcos Administration, we're very optimistic for the prospects of our country in terms of being a tourism powerhouse in Asia anchored on the strength of our Filipino culture as well as the values of sustainability, resilience, and global competitiveness,” Frasco said.

RELATED VIDEO:

Watch more News on iWantTFC