MANILA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' international tourism receipts surged to 482.54 billion pesos (8.67 billion U.S. dollars), as the country welcomed more than 5.4 million foreign tourists in 2023, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Tuesday.
Philippine Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said 5,450,557 international visitors entered the country from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023. Of the international arrivals, 91.8 percent were foreigners, while the remaining were overseas Filipinos.
The arrivals exceeded the Philippines' 4.8 million target for 2023.
"The year 2023 is a win for the Philippine tourism industry as it welcomed more than 5 million international visitor arrivals," Frasco said in a statement.
South Korea retains its top spot as the Philippines' primary source of international visitors. It was followed by the United States, Japan, Australia, and China.
"The Philippines has also reached an estimated 66 percent recovery rate for its all-time high international visitor arrivals achieved in 2019," added Frasco.
Before the pandemic struck, the Philippines recorded 482.15 billion pesos (8.66 billion dollars) in international tourism earnings in 2019.
The DOT said the Philippines aims to hit 7.7 million international visitor arrivals by 2024.
As a key economic driver in the Philippines, tourism contributed 6.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2022, with at least 2.65 million inbound foreign visitors. ■
