2011 tourist arrivals surpass previous year

A statement from the agency noted that arrivals were up by 11.28% to 3.917 million visitors from 3.52 million year on year. The figure was also up by 4.6% against the official target of 3.7 million arrivals for 2011.

Data from the DoT also showed November posted the highest growth of 19.8%, to 337,021 visitors from 281,313 the previous year. December also saw the highest number of tourist arrivals with 394,567 visitors.Most visitors came from East Asia, which accounted for 1,837,681 arrivals or 46.91% of the total number last year, for a growth of 17.57% from 1,563,013 in 2010.

Other regional markets with high tourist arrivals were North America, which contributed 18.98% of the total number of visitors, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (8.47%) and Australasia-Pacific (5.82%).Despite economic uncertainty in Europe, some regions in the continent also posted growth rates in tourist arrivals.

The northern European region was the fifth largest regional market last year, according to the DoT, with a 4.19% share of visitors. Arrivals from the region also rose by 9.43% from the previous year.It was followed by Western Europe, which contributed 4.01% of the total visitors last year, up by 5.41% from 2010.

On a country basis, Korea was the strongest single market with 925,204 arrivals or 23.62% of the total number, data show. More Koreans also came to the Philippines last year, as arrivals grew by 24.92% from 740,622 tourists in 2010.

Other countries on the list are the United States -- the second largest source of visitors -- which brought in 624,527 visitors or a share of 15.94% of the total; Japan with 375,496 visitors (9.59%); China with 243,137 visitors (6.21%); and Taiwan with 181,738 visitors (4.64%).

In a statement, Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr. said that the positive visitor arrival trend is expected to continue this year, especially with the launch of the new tourism campaign in December.

While initially drawing mixed reactions, the DoT’s "It’s more fun in the Philippines" slogan gained prominence in the social media."Our marketing resource has grown exponentially because of other people’s contributions [through the social media]," Mr. Jimenez said.

He added that for this year, the DoT hopes to attract 4.2 million visitors.The government has earlier said that it hopes to achieve 10 million tourist arrivals a year starting 2016, the last year of the Aquino administration.

According to data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the tourism sector contributed an average of 5.8% annually to the country’s economic growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, in 2000-2010.

The industry also contributes about a tenth of total employment in the country, the NSCB data show.

Source - bworldonline