MANILA, Philippines — The government likely reached its target of 6.5 million international tourist arrivals for 2017.
Alberto Gadia Jr, Tourism Promotions Board market specialist II of the domestic promotions department said foreign tourist arrivals had already breached the six million mark as of November last year.
Based on the latest available data from the DOT, foreign arrivals grew 11.54 percent to 5.9 million arrivals from January to October 2017.
Gadia said the Department of Tourism (DOT) is still consolidating yearend arrival figures.
DOT assistant secretary and spokesperson Frederick Alegre earlier told The STAR that the agency was expecting foreign tourist arrivals to reach 6.7-to 6.8-million, exceeding its 2017 goal of 6.5 million arrivals.
Alegre’s optimism was driven by the DOT’s launch of the Bring Home a Friend program last October and the influx of Chinese tourists.
The surge in the number of Chinese tourists was attributed to the improved ties between the Philippines and China and the Visa Upon Arrival (VUA) option for Chinese nationals.
Alegre said Chinese tourists to the Philippines were expected to hit one million.
As of the first 10 months of 2017, Chinese arrivals had reached 810,807, accounting for 14.81 percent of the total arrivals. This makes China the second top source market, next to South Korea.
Based on the National Tourism Development Plan, the DOT expects foreign arrivals to reach between 7.5 million to 8 million this year.