International visitor arrivals in the Philippines reached 4.82 million in the first 11 months of 2023, breaching the government’s full-year target of 4.8 million and translating into P404 billion in tourism receipts.
“Tourism continues to drive growth and provide income and jobs nationwide. With the implementation of the National Tourism Development Plan 2023 to 2028 approved by President Marcos, we are beginning to see the merits of our strategies towards increasing connectivity, convenience, and equality in tourism development and promotions, as well as the invaluable partnership of our tourism stakeholders in the private sector,” Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco said during the DOT’s 1st Philippine Golf Tourism Summit held at Grand Hyatt Manila Tuesday.
Based on the update dated Nov. 27, 2023, foreign tourists comprised the bulk of arrivals at 91.88 percent or 4.42 million, while the remaining 8.12 percent or 391,805 were returning overseas Filipinos.
South Korea remained the country’s top source market for foreign arrivals with 1.27 million tourists or 26.37 percent of the total; followed by the US with 797,181; Japan with 272,735; China with 242,107; and Australia with 225,464.
Frasco said the support of the Marcos administration for the DOT was instrumental in translating the targets into achievements.
She highlighted the growing role of tourism as one of the strongest pillars of the Philippine economy that supports 5.35 million Filipinos in the tourism industry.
Frasco said the ongoing reforms such as the new visa policies and efforts to improve tourism infrastructures contributed to the sector’s achievements.
The DOT is also positioning the Philippines as a global hub for sports tourism, including golf.
“Today marks the Philippines’ long overdue foray into the multi-billion golf tourism industry that will no doubt have an enormous impact on the Philippine economy. And it’s about time that the government and the private sector come together to converge and to collaborate,” Frasco said.
The Philippines has over 100 golf courses spread across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, with Santa Barbara Golf Course in Iloilo province deemed as the oldest.
“Golf tourism represents a promising frontier for the Philippines and this summit highlights our proactive approach in understanding, nurturing, listening to the golf tourism industry and developing this niche as part of our tourism industry portfolio,” Frasco said.
“We are hopeful that this first Philippine Golf Tourism Summit can be a catalyst and serve as a platform to gather insights, recommendations, and concerns, paving the way for informed decisions and strategies as well as a unified national government tourism policy towards golf tourism that can be aligned with our local government units all over the country,” she said.