International visitor arrivals hit 5.45M in 2023

THE PHILIPPINES logged 5.45 million international visitors in 2023, beating the 4.8 million target, the Department of Tourism (DoT) said on Tuesday.

“From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023… 91.8% or the bulk of international arrivals recorded at 5,003,475 were foreigners. The remaining 8.2% or 447,082 are overseas Filipinos,” the DoT said in a statement.

The 2023 total more than doubled the 2.6 million reported a year prior.

South Korea remained the top source of foreign arrivals during the year, accounting for 1.44 million tourists or 26.41% of the total.

Also in the top five were the US with 903,299 tourists (16.57%), Japan 305,580 (5.61%), Australia 266,551 (4.89%), and China 263,836 (4.84 %).

“Other foreigners who visited the country from other top source markets after China were from Canada, Taiwan, the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia,” it added.

The DoT said that total international tourism receipts for the year amounted to P482.54 billion. This was more than double the P214.58 billion from a year earlier.

It added that the Philippines was at about 66% of the pre-pandemic arrivals record posted in 2019.

International arrivals in 2019 amounted to 8.26 million, generating P482.15 billion in receipts, according to the DoT.

“We have set our goals for the industry not only in terms of international visitor arrivals but most importantly, the number of Filipinos, including their families, who will benefit from the opportunities generated by our efforts to make the industry prosper,” Tourism Secretary Maria Esperanza Christina G. Frasco said.

“We are poised for a thriving tourism landscape, evident in surpassing our targets in international and domestic arrivals and receipts, fostering economic prosperity and further job creation for our people,” she said.

The DoT is targeting 7.7 million international visitors for 2024. — Adrian H. Halili