DOT: Foreign tourist arrivals up 5 percent

Foreign tourist arrivals increased by five percent to over 600,000 last month, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said on Thursday.

The DOT said that 601,322 foreign tourists visited the country last month, 5.86 percent more than the 568,035 arrivals in the same period last year.

“This brings the total visitor count from January to July 2018 at 4, 308,043 or a 9.74 percent jump from the 3,925, 626 arrivals recorded last year,” the tourism department stated.

South Korea remains to be the country’s top source of tourists, followed by China, United States of America, Japan, and Australia, according to the Statistics, Economic Analysis and Information Management Division (SEAIMD) of the DOT.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat expressed optimism anew that the country will attain its year-end target of 7.4 million international visitors.

“Things are looking brighter for the tourism industry. With the roll out of a comprehensive branding campaign in the coming months and the scheduled reopening of a better Boracay on October 26, we are optimistic that we will hit, or better yet, surpass our target of 7.4 million for 2018,” said Puyat.

“With the challenges and hurdles the industry is facing, maintaining the positive trajectory of visitor arrivals is not an easy feat, but the industry has kept itself afloat. We only have our stakeholders and government partners to thank. But of course, this will not be possible without the dedicated men and women of the DOT,” she added.