Tourism revenues in the Philippines jumped 38.28 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to P157.82 billion from P113.98 billion in the same period last year, the Department of Tourism said Thursday.
The DOT also estimated that the sector already achieved a recovery rate of 120.70 percent from the pre-pandemic receipts of P130.59 billion in the same period in 2019.
DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said international visitor arrivals hit 2,010,522 as of April 24, 2024, representing a 15.1 percent increase from 1,746,630 arrivals recorded in the same period in 2023.
“The DOT sees a positive trajectory for the country’s international tourist arrivals this year. We are hopeful that with more investments in tourism infrastructure, as well as much-needed increase in connectivity and improvements in air, land, and sea infrastructure and accessibility, the numbers can further increase,” Frasco said.
International visitors accounted for 94.21 percent, or 1,894,076 of the country’s total arrivals as of April 24, while 5.79 percent or 116,446 were overseas Filipinos.
South Korea remained the top source market in terms of inbound traffic with 27.19 percent or 546,726, followed by the United States with 315,816 or 15.71 percent, China with 130,574 or 6.49 percent, Japan with 123,204 or 6.13 percent and Australia with 88,048 or 4.38 percent.
Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Germany completed the top ten markets.
The DOT expressed optimism about hitting the target arrivals of 7.7 million in 2024. Arrivals peaked at 8.26 million in 2019.
Visitor arrivals reached 5.45 million in 2023, or 105.6 percent higher than 2.65 million in 2022.
The Philippines also generated more than P480 billion in international tourism receipts last year.