Wednesday, May 14, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
FOREIGN tourist arrivals rose in the first quarter of the year, boosted by the Korean markets, the Department of Tourism said Tuesday.
In a statement, the DOT said the number of foreign visitors went up by 8.5 percent to 858,244 from 790,888 in the same period last year.
The DOT said foreign arrivals continued to post positive growth in the first three months, with the January record of 293,803 showing the biggest arrivals, and February registering the highest growth of 11.7 percent for the period in review.
The tourism agency said the Korean market registered the largest number arrivals at 175,147 during the first three months of the year, posting a growth of 2 percent from 171,716 in the same period last year.
The Korean market contributed 20.4 percent to total inbound traffic, followed by visitors from the United States, the second biggest arrivals at 166,128, which added 19.4 percent to total visitor volume. The US market grew by 6.3 percent in the first three months from 156,226 in the same period a year ago. The Japanese market came third with 99,453, comprising about 11.6 percent of the total inbound traffic, to show a decline of 4 percent versus its corresponding arrivals of 103,589 for the same period in 2007.
Other top tourism markets during the period were China with 48,619 visitors; Taiwan, 31,441 visitors; Hong Kong with 31,344 arrivals; Australia with 30,936 arrivals; Canada with 29,525 arrivals; United Kingdom with 23,863 arrivals and Singapore with 23,761 arrivals.
The DOT added that 10 cruise ships arrived from January to March with six ships disembarking in Manila South Harbor to bring in a total of 7,103 visitors, while the remaining cruise disembarked in Subic, Cebu and Davao with visitors totaling 1,321.
“These positive results have laid down the groundwork for another promising year for the industry,” the DOT said.
The industry earned some $1.022 billion from tourist spending in the first three months of the year.
“Moving forward in 2008, the DOT will continue its efforts to maximize the economic value of tourism. Given current infrastructure capabilities, the sector will explore new and innovative ways to attract the most valuable tourists,” the DOT said. -- Darwin G. Amojelar
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