CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga—Tourist arrivals in the first quarter grew by 11.4 percent year on year to about 1,784,887 people who visited the country so far in 2017.
Tourism Undersecretary Frederick Alegre said the growth comes from East Asian and North American countries, namely China, Japan, South Korea, United states, Canada, and other foreigners who visited the country during the first three months of the year, compared to only 1.6 million in the same period last year.
Under the National Tourism Development Plan of 2017 to 2022, Alegre said the country aims to attract 12-million foreign tourists and 89.2-million local tourists. The income generation of P3.9 trillion from these tourists is expected to contribute about 10.1 percent of the Gross National Product.
“We are confident that this solid growth of 11.4 percent of the first quarter, backed up by serious marketing with better infrastructure projects and further development, will continue,” Alegre said.
During a media forum here, Alegre attributed the tourists’ arrival increase from East Asian countries including US and Canada to the additional airline seats totaling about 160,000, with direct flights from China and South Korea to the secondary airports in the country.
These secondary airports with direct flights to China and South Korea include Kalibo to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu; Cebu to Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Clark to Incheon, South Korea, Alegre said.
Another factor contributing to the increase of tourist arrivals in the country in the current fiscal year are tourism deals signed with the different countries like China, Cambodia, Thailand, Turkey, and Russia.
India, with a total population of 1.2 billion with about 350 million in the middle class, is starting to catch up with the rest of the foreigners in visiting country, as tourism records show.
Alegre said for the first quarter of the year, Indians visiting the country increased to 26.63 percent or by about 26,905 persons.
Topping the list of foreign tourists’ arrival in the country from January to March 2017 are South Koreans totaling about 445,865 persons followed by US with 258,097 persons or about 11.6 percent growth rate.
The Chinese visiting the country also grew by 30.3 percent or about 240,354 persons followed by Japan with 106,251 persons while Canada and Germany with 60,838 and 29,301 tourists’ arrival respectively.
Alegre said that foreign tourists visiting the country improved their spending capacity to $107 from only $23.5 with their five to eight days stay.
A big factor in the development of the tourism industry is the domestic market which grew by 67 million as shown by the 2015 data of the Domestic Household Survey of the Philippines Statistical Authority.
Foreign tourists spend 31% of their budget on accommodation followed by food and beverages which is 16 percent with 14 percent for entertainment and 5 percent percent for transportation.
Alegre added that majority of foreign tourists are visit beaches and coastal destinations while others for business and visiting friends and families.