THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday said the more than six million arrivals it recorded in 2022 showed that while still far from the pre-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic levels, tourism is already on the rebound and the country could expect more tourists this year.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said they processed 6,125,841 arrivals in 2022, which he said is a far cry from the 17 million arrivals recorded in 2019.
“This is already a major leap from the last two years, wherein our airports were quiet due to the decrease in travelers, following travel restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic,” Tansingco said.
“While we are not yet seeing pre-pandemic figures, the increase is already evident. We share the optimism of the tourism department that travel is on the rebound, and we will expect more tourists in the following months,” he added.
BI data showed that of the recorded arrivals, 3.6 million were Filipinos.
The top travelers to the country were passengers from the United States of America with 687,135 arrivals; South Korea with 448,491 arrivals; Australia with 152,476; followed by Canada and Japan with 141,578 and 123,011 arrivals, respectively.
Immigration bureau data, on the other hand, showed only 30,002 Chinese tourists visited the country in 2022.
In 2021, the BI recorded a total of 1.4 million arrivals and 3.6 million in 2020.
