Eight-month tourist arrivals hit 3.66M

Foreign visitors arrival in the Philippine between January and August this year reached a total 3.66 million, 38 percent more than the total tourist arrivals for the whole of 2022, data from the Department of Tourism showed.

Around 1.4 million foreign visitors arrived in the Philippines in the first eight months of 2022.

With still four months left in 2023 and the Christmas holidays looming, it appears likely foreign arrivals, which include Filipinos living overseas and holding foreign passports, will exceed the 4.8 million target of the government this year and possibly double the 2.65 million total for 2022.

The strong tourism sector performance this year isn’t likely to eclipse the record 8.26 million foreign arrivals in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic almost killed the international travel industry as countries around the world closed borders to prevent the spread of the highly communicable and deadly disease.

Foreign arrivals total 437,648 in August alone, the lowest monthly level thus far this year. The highest in a single month totaled 516,304 posted in July.

South Korean travelers topped the list of foreign visitors to the Philippines in the first eight months and accounted for nearly 26 percent of the total or 942,647.

Completing the top five countries in terms of visitor arrivals, from second to fifth, are the U.S., Japan, China and Australia. Combined, the top five countries accounted for around 58 percent of total foreign visitors. Balikbayans accounted for 8.6 percent.