The Department of Tourism (DOT) in the Philippines is planning to attract 7.7 million foreign visitors in 2024 after surpassing its arrival goals for 2023.
Tourism chief Christina Frasco said at a reception in Makati City on Tuesday: “I understand that this is not yet our pre-pandemic numbers of 2019 at over 8.2 million international arrivals but what I can assure you is that we will push as hard as we can and fully activate our convergences with other government agencies in order to reach this target.”
According to Frasco, the Philippines has accumulated a total of 5,069,752 international visitors since January. Moreover, its tourism displayed a “remarkable resilience” this year even though it was one of the last Southeast Asian countries to open up to tourism after the pandemic.
She also praised President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. for his leadership, which helped the country’s tourism.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization World Tourism Barometer shows that the Asia-Pacific region’s average recovery rate was 62 percent from January to September. Meanwhile, the Philippines’ recovery regarding international tourist arrivals has reached 65.54 percent in the same period, according to the DOT.
Frasco described the Philippines as a country “recovering faster than expected” when it comes to tourism receipts, resulting in PHP458 billion generated from January to November, equivalent to 95.85 percent of the 2019 figures.
The DOT also showed the latest arrival numbers for 2023, with 4,658,123 (91.88%) consisting of foreign tourists, while the remaining 411,629 (8.12%) were overseas Filipinos.
As the country receives more international recognition, Frasco said that the DOT will continue to push for more quality tourism infrastructure projects, such as building more Tourist Rest Areas.
