International visitor arrivals in the Philippines increased 1.3 percent in July from a year ago, but tourism receipts surged 58.2 percent on higher per capita spending, the Tourism Department said Wednesday.
Data showed that arrivals in July reached 568,035, up from 560,872 arrivals registered in the same month last year. This brought total arrivals in the first seven months to 3.92 million, up 11 percent from a year earlier.
The Tourism Department said tourism receipts in July climbed to P33.52 billion from P21.18 billion a year ago.
“These figures are significant in terms of measuring our tourism industry’s sustainability. We hope to see this upward trend as an indication that our industry is working hard at attracting more of the high-spending segments or that product diversification has yielded more options to do and spend for,” said Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo.
The average daily expenditure amounted to P5,989.49, with foreign tourists staying for an average of 9.81 nights in the country in the seven-month period. The average per capita expenditure of visitors in July was estimated at P58,756.86.
South Korea remained the top source market in July with 132,135 arrivals. China dislodged the United States for the second spot, registering 90,763 and 86,017 arrivals, respectively.
“Beijing apparently is making good on its promise to send more tourists to the Philippines to help boost the country’s visitor arrival figures,” Teo said.
Korea was also the top spending market with an estimated expenditure of P9.83 billion in July. Tourists from China churned out almost P8.89 billion, while tourists from the United States spent P3.95 billion.
Taiwan travelers spent of P2.17 billion, followed by guests from Japan with P1.66 billion.
The Tourism Department expects international visitor arrivals to reach a record 7 million in 2017, up from 5.97 million in 2016.