Tourist arrivals up despite Marawi crisis
DOT Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre said Boracay, Bohol and Palawan remain the top destinations of tourists from Korea, the United States and China. File
MANILA, Philippines - Despite the ongoing crisis in Marawi City, tourists continue to flock to major tourist destinations in the Visayas, Palawan and the Ilocos region, an official of the Department of Tourism (DOT) said yesterday.
DOT Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre said Boracay, Bohol and Palawan remain the top destinations of tourists from Korea, the United States and China.
“We have an average of 600,000 tourists – Koreans, Americans and Chinese – monthly,” he added.
An average of 400,000 Korean tourists arrive in the Philippines every month because of the presence of Korean communities in the country. Many tourists from the US are Filipino-Americans who returned to their places of origin to reunite with their relatives, the DOT said.
The DOT also noticed an increase in Chinese tourist arrivals in the country following the state visit of President Duterte in China.
Alegre said that when the hostilities broke out in Marawi last month, the DOT negotiated with airline companies for free rebooking of tourists bound for Mindanao to other destinations in the country.
Last year, 5.5 million tourists visited the Philippines. The DOT expects seven million tourist arrivals this year.
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