Around 5.45 million people from other countries visited the Philippines in 2023. This exceeds the Tourism department’s target of 4.8 international visitors from January 1st to December 31st last year. Of this number, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco says almost 92% were foreigners, while the remaining were overseas Filipinos. The main source of international visitors was South Korea, followed by the United States, Japan, Australia, and China.

Frasco also says the figure translated to 480-billion pesos in international tourism receipts. The Tourism department has set its 2024 goal of 7.7 million foreign tourist arrivals in the country by year-end.

To share us his insights is Tourism Congress of the Philippines Vice President for Visayas, Peter Tay.