11% bump on tourist arrivals as China makes good on promise

BEIJING DELIVERS as it just nearly missed its promise of a million tourists to help Philippine tourism in 2017: growing their tourist numbers by 43.3% to 968,447.

Department of Tourism (DOT) data revealed total visitor arrivals spiked by just under 11 percent (6.62 million, surpassing the 6.5 million target of the Duterte administration under its National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) for 2016-2022).

Most foreign visitors still come from South Korea, with 1.61 million tourists in 2017, up 9 percent from their 2016 numbers. That’s a 24.3 percent of the total market share.

The Chinese arrivals bumped the long-time second-placers of the United States, accounting for 14.63 percent of the market share, compared to an 11.32-percent share from the previous year.

While settling for third, the Americans still had a 10.2 percent increase in arrivals with 957,813 tourists and a 14.5 percent of total market share, nearly the same from 2016.

Japan came fourth, with a 9.14 percent spike in arrivals to 584,180 and a steady 8.82 percent market share.

Australia at fifth place had 259,433 arrivals, a slight dip in market share (4 percent) from its 4.21 percent in 2016.

More Chinese Coming?

Palawan should see a spike in Chinese tourists, with a Xiamen-Puerto Princesa route being developed by Philippine Airline (PAL), in collaboration with C&D Travel Service China and the DOT.

“We continue to welcome more Chinese tourists to the country as part of the improved diplomatic relationship between Manila and Beijing since President Duterte’s state visit to China in 2016,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said.

Tourism Undersecretary for Tourism Development Benito C. Bengzon Jr. also revealed that their agency is working on a Tianjin-Puerto Princesa route to accommodate more tourists to the island paradise.

via Business Mirror / Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo