By Azer N. Parrocha
FOREIGN tourist arrivals in the Philippines fell short of its 6 million target in 2016 with 5.9 million visitors, but a tourism official on Friday said the figure was “not bad” for a year of transition into the Duterte administration.
“That is not so bad for someone transitioning,” Tourism Undersecretary for Media Affairs Kat de Castro told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
De Castro, however, said that the Department of Tourism will work more “aggressively” to meet if not exceed its target of 6.5 to 7 million arrivals by the end of 2017.
“We’ll do better this year. We’ll be more aggressive,” De Castro said.
The Philippines recorded a total of 5.9-million foreign tourist arrivals, which is 11.31 percent higher compared to 5.3 million arrivals it acquired in 2015.
Korea remained the top source market with 1.4 million arrivals followed by the US with 869,463 arrivals, China with 675,663, Japan with 535,238 arrivals, and Australia with 251,098 arrivals.
Rounding up the top 10 source markets are Taiwan (229,303), Singapore (176,057), Canada (175,631), United Kingdom (173,299) and Malaysia (139,133).
The 5.9-million foreign tourist arrivals generated tourism earnings of P230.13 billion which is 1.11 percent higher than the P227.62-billion earnings in 2015.
De Castro also expressed hope that the launch of the agency’s new campaign will convince more tourists to visit the Philippines.
The DoT launched its new campaign advertisement in January which answered the question why it’s “More Fun in the Philippines. The answer? “When you’re with Filipinos, you’re with family.” It was first broadcast worldwide during the Miss Universe coronation show on Jan. 30, 2017.
The Tourism official also said that DoT is looking forward to more big-ticket events this year such as the annual culinary event, Madrid Fusion Manila.
DoT will also be launching a new sports tourism-themed campaign with support from Senator-boxer Manny Pacquiao, who serves as the department’s official endorser or tourism poster boy.
