Frasco says tourism goals flexible

TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the Philippines will continue promoting opportunity markets in Asia to attract more tourists.

She added that the goal of 7.7 million international tourist arrivals this year is a «moving target» due to many variables, including specific geopolitical issues.

«We recognize the challenges that persist, especially from the arrivals from the Chinese market, so it is a moving target, I would say, taking into account the realities that we face. Even so, we are working as hard as we can to make sure that, not only on the arrivals but, more importantly, on the visitor receipts, our economy continues to thrive through tourism,» Frasco said.

As of August 7, the country had received a total of 3,622,635 inbound visitors, with foreigners accounting for 92.13 percent (3,336,021) and overseas Filipinos accounting for 7.87 percent (286,643).

South Korea remains the leading source market in terms of arrivals, with 960,809 (26.37 percent), followed by the United States of America with 590,861 (16.22 percent), China with 223,954 (6.15 percent), Japan with 221,430 (6.08 percent), and Australia with 152,835 (4.19 percent).

Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia make out the sixth to tenth spots.

From January 1 to July 31, the country's estimated visitor receipts totaled P323.68 billion.

This was 13.18 percent more than the P285.99 billion earned during the same period last year.

«We are hoping to be able to attain the target, and, at the same time, we are rolling up our sleeves in terms of the challenges that confound us,» Frasco said.

«We continue our very heavy promotions in terms of our top source markets so that we will be able to increase tourist arrivals from these areas, and as I have mentioned, these include South Korea, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and including Europe,» she added.