Overseas Filipino workers, who are included in the data sourced by the DOT from eTravel, accounted for 5.7 percent of arrivals, or a total 94,265, lower by 16 percent from the same period last year.
South Korean tourists accounted for nearly 28 percent of arrivals in the first quarter, with the total rising 26 percent year-on-year to 458,691.
Visitors from the US numbered 264,690 in the first quarter, a number that is up 4.4 percent from last year but is still second biggest with a share of 16 percent.
China, which used to be the biggest source of foreign tourists to the Philippines, jumped to third this year, overtaking Australia, Canada Taiwan and Japan, as it more than doubled arrivals in the first quarter to 109,568 this year from 43,833 last year.
Japanese visitors rose 63 percent to 105,347 while Australia increased it contribution to foreign arrivals by 3.6 percent to 70,601 visitors.
For the whole of 2023, visitor arrivals to the Philippines reached 5.45 million, exceed the 4.8 million target. For this year, the tourism department is aiming for a total 7.7 million arrivals.
The Philippines international tourism receipts last year reach P482.54 billion, up from P214.58 billion in 2022 and slightly higher than the amount recorded in 2019.
Hotel and resort operators as well as airlines are expanding in anticipation of further growth in the tourism and travel industry moving forward.
