Tourist arrivals as of April 24 stood at 2 million, a 15-percent increase from 1.75 million in the same period in 2023, data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed.
The DOT said in the first quarter, tourism receipts were recorded at P157.62 billion, a 35.49 percent increase from P114 billion in the same period last year.
This surpassed the P130.59-billion revenue gained in the first quarter of 2019 or the milestone year for tourism before the pandemic.
Of the 2 million international visitors that entered the country as of April 24, 94.21 percent or 1.89 million were foreign tourists, while 5.79 percent or 116,446 are overseas Filipinos.
South Korea maintained its spot as the Philippines’ top source market in terms of inbound visitor arrivals with 27.19 percent or 546,726, followed by the United States that delivered 315,816 (15.71 percent), China with 130,574 (6.49 percent), Japan with 123,204 (6.13 percent), and Australia with 88,048 (4.38 percent).
Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Germany ranked sixth to tenth, respectively.
“The DOT sees a positive trajectory for the country’s international tourist arrivals this year. We are glad the collaboration and collective effort and hard work are materializing into figures that are beneficial for the entire industry. We are hopeful that with more investments in tourism infrastructure as well as much needed increase in connectivity as well as improvements in air, land, and sea infrastructure and accessibility, the numbers can further increase,” said Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
This year, the country is targeting 7.7 million international visitors, nearly its pre-pandemic record-breaking achievement in 2019 which ended with an estimated 8.26 million inbound visitor arrivals.
