The DOT chief also said the recent projection of the private sector of 1-million in foreign tourist arrivals by the end of the year, was “highly possible,” especially now that South Koreans were already slowly climbing up to the list of the Philippines’ top tourism markets. “They’re number 3 already,” said Romulo Puyat, who recently visited Seoul to woo their citizens to visit the Philippines.
From February 10 to April 26, there were 325,328 total foreign tourists who arrived in the Philippines. Balikbayans accounted for 40 percent of the total, or 131,534, while foreigners accounted for some 60 percent at 193,794. Of the total foreign tourists, Americans topped the list at 67,312, followed by Canadians at 15,527; South Koreans at 14,901; Australians at 14,684; British at 13,826; Japanese at 7,590; Vietnamese at 7,060; Germans at 5,965; Singaporeans at 3,866; and Malaysians at 3,433.
The data was gathered from government’s One Health Pass registration for inbound arrivals at the international airports in Manila/Pasay, Clark in Pampanga, Subic in Zambales, Mactan in Cebu, Davao, and Panglao in Bohol. In a webinar on revenge travel last week, Tourism Congress of the Philippines president Jose C. Clemente III said inbound arrivals could exceed 1 million by the end of 2022.