Rounding out the top five are American, Chinese, Japanese, and Australian tourists.
Looks like South Koreans are returning the love many Pinoys have for their country. One in every four foreign travelers who arrived in the Philippines from January to March this year came from the land of BTS and Queen of Tears.
As per data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 546,726 of the 2,010,522 international tourists who visited the country this year were South Koreans. The United States, China, Japan, and Australia round up the top five.
South Korea has been the main source of visitor arrivals to the Philippines since 2010.
American travelers totaled 315,816 (15 percent); Chinese, 130,574 (6.5 percent); Japanese, 123,204 (6.1 percent), and Australians, 88,048 (4.38 percent). Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Germany ranked sixth to tenth, respectively.
In addition to foreign tourists, there were also 116,446 overseas Filipinos who visited the Philippines during the period, the DOT added.
Optimistic numbers
The good news is, the number of foreign visitors so far this year was 15 percent higher than the 1,746,630 international arrivals recorded during the same period last year. This increased the country’s tourism receipts for the first three months of the year to P157.62 billion, exceeding the pre-pandemic tourism income of P130.59 billion during the same period in 2019.
The DOT targets 7.7 million international visitors this year, hoping to beat the record 8.26 million visitor arrivals in 2019 which generated P482.15 billion in international tourism receipts.
Last year, 5,450,557 international travelers visited the country, bringing international tourism receipts of P482.54 billion that exceeded the P214.58 billion estimated visitor spending in 2022, according to the DOT.
About 26 percent or 1,439,336 foreign tourists last year were from South Korea. This was followed by the United States with 903,299 tourists (16 percent); Japan with 305,580 (5.6 percent); Australia with 266,551 (4.89 percent); and China with 263,836 (4.84 percent).
Lagging behind our Asia Pacific peers
Despite the optimistic numbers, the Philippines is actually lagging behind its Asia Pacific neighbors. According to the same article in the Inquirer, the recovery of the travel industry “could have been stronger were it not for the slow return of Chinese tourists.”
According to a report from the Bank of America (BofA), the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were the “laggards” in Asia as tourist arrivals in these destinations have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. This is in stark contrast against the region’s tourism sector which is already entering the “last stage” of recovery from the pandemic.
BofA noted that foreign visitor arrivals in the country were still 76 percent of pre-pandemic levels as of February this year. This, however, is still much better than Hong Kong’s 73.7 percent and Taiwan’s 69.6 percent figure in January.
Data compiled by BofA showed Chinese arrivals were only about 20 to 30 percent of pre-pandemic levels in the Philippines, noting this is below trends in other parts of the region. Sadly, recovery is unlikely to pick up anytime soon, with BofA noting the “changing preferences” of Chinese consumers.
“The typical Chinese traveler these days is increasingly interested in exploring domestic cities that offer unique cultural experiences. This has also slowed their return to international destinations,” BofA said.
BofA, meanwhile, observed that tourism is now back to pre-pandemic strength in Japan and Vietnam as these two countries continue to benefit from their weak currencies.
Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, on the other hand, were among the “hopefuls” in Asia after recently seeing a “sharp rebound” in international arrivals. In the middle of the pack are India, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia, the visitor entries of which are at 80 to 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
In a separate Inquirer article, it was stated that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas forecasts tourism receipts this year to grow by 50 percent. That would contribute to the projected $700 million dollar surplus in 2024 which, if realized, would be smaller than the $3.7 billion windfall recorded in 2023.
