More than 1.3M foreign guests in PH in first quarter of 2023

MANILA – More than 1.3 million foreigners have arrived in the Philippines so far in 2023, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Monday.

“Ngayon, hindi pa natatapos yung ating first quarter, umabot na po tayo sa over 1.3 million international arrivals, tsaka over 90 percent noon yung international foreign guests,” said Secretary Garcia Frasco.

“So we’re seeing the momentum for recovery for tourism,” she added.

Frasco also noted that many tourist spots in the country seem to be welcoming more visitors this year, after having been badly hit by lockdowns imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re very happy to see, in many of our tourism establishments all over the Philippines, including our key destinations, yung iba record-breaking yung mga bookings nila, dahil some of them have even exceeded pandemic numbers but of course, others are still recovering, that’s why we’re doing our very best,” she said.

“Last year, our numbers would show that we were a little over 30 percent recovery. But, we foresee that this year, we will be recovering up to 4.8 million international visitors and 100 percent recovery for domestic tourism.”

The Philippines recorded 2.65 million tourist arrivals in 2022. It is hoping to attract nearly 5 million visitors to the country this year.

--TeleRadyo, 27 March 2023