The Arroyo administration’s efforts at promoting the Philippines as a tourism destination is paying off with tourists spending a total of some $1 billion in the country during the first quarter of 2008 alone.

This was revealed by the Department of Tourism (DOT) which enthused that “these positive results have laid down the groundwork for another promising year for the industry.”
 
“These developments further benefit a greater part of the nation as more quality jobs are generated and more wealth enters our country,” added the DOT headed by Ace Durano who has since taken over the helm of the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) in a concurrent capacity.
 
The DOT, which sourced its data from arrival and departure cards and shipping manifests, counted 858,244 “arrivals” from January to March 2008, and which first-quarter group of tourists spent a total of US$ 1.022 billion.
 
“Tourist spending amounted to US$ 1.02 billion, with Korea accounting for the biggest bulk. The Scandinavian region, as well as Germany, Russia, Canada and Hong Kong, registered double-digit gains as shown by their increasing expenditure and length of stay over the previous years,” the DOT
further revealed in its latest newsletter.
 
Koreans topped the arrivals in terms of number during the first quarter, with 175,147 Koreans visiting the country, and accounting for 20.4 percent of the total tourist arrivals.
 
The next biggest group came from the United States, with the 166,128 tourists making up 19.4 percent; followed by tourists from Japan at 99,453 (11.6 percent).
 
Fourth to sixth were mainland China with 48,619 (5.7 percent); followed by Taiwan with 31,441 (3.7 percent); and Hong Kong, 31,344 (3.7 percent). If lumped together, the Chinese group totals 111,404 (13.1 percent), more than the Japanese tourists.
 
Australians (30,936 or 3.6 percent), Canadians (29,525 or 3.4 percent) and UK nationals (23,863 or 2.8 percent) comprised the next biggest bulk of tourists, with their arrivals totaling 84,324 (9.8 percent).
 
In tenth place were the Singaporean tourists at 23,761 (2.8 percent).
 
To further increase the “tourist spend,” the DOT will be launching a Shopping Festival in September, and a Second Home Destination Program in October.  

- END -