Tourism receipts rose 32.81 percent to P282.17 billion in the first half of the year from P212.47 billion in the same period last year.
In a report, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said inbound tourist arrivals as of July 10 stood at 3.17 million, of which 2.94 million are foreigners while 236,401 are overseas Filipinos.
DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco in a statement cited the forecasts of the Economic Impact Research (EIR) of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) which said 2024 is a “record-breaking” year for the Philippines’ travel and tourism industry in terms of economic contribution, employment, and visitor spending.
“In the second half of the year, we anticipate the numbers to increase, not only the revenue generated but most importantly, the number of Filipinos employed in tourism-related industries. Many projects aimed at improving the country’s connectivity and enhancing our visitors convenience are also in the pipeline to sustain the good work we have started,” Frasco said.
The EIR said the tourism sector’s contribution to the national economy is expected to reach P5.4 trillion this year, or around 25 percent year-on-year growth, surpassing the record-breaking achievement in 2019 by 7.1 percent.
The WTTC forecasts international and domestic visitor spending are set to break records this year, pegged at P715.6 billion and P3.7 trillion, respectively, exceeding 2019 levels by 5.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
Employment in tourism is also projected to surpass 9.5 million jobs, translating to 20 percent of the national workforce.
The DOT report said South Korea remains the Philippines’ top source of foreign arrivals, delivering a solid 824,798 or 25.99 percent of the total number of visitors entering the country. The US comes second with 522,667 (16.47 percent), followed by China with 199,939 (6.30 percent), Japan with 188,805 (5.95 percent), and Australia with 137,391 (4.33 percent).
Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom, and neighboring Southeast Asian nations, Singapore and Malaysia, are the sixth to tenth source markets, respectively.
Last year, international visitor receipts reached P482.54 billion while arrivals tallied at 5.45 million.
Tourism contributed a robust 8.6 percent to the economy’s gross domestic product in 2023.