Tourist industry
PROJECTIONS that an estimated 4.8 million international tourists will visit the Philippines in 2023 provide a major challenge for concerned government authorities.
Without doubt, the said projections were carefully analyzed by top executives of the Department of Tourism (DOT), headed by Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco
Earlier, the workaholic. lady DOT secretary from Cebu, a former municipal mayor, said the government is targeting 4.8 million international visitors this year as its baseline.
However, Frasco remains hopeful that her agency will again surpass its target just like in 2022.
“We look forward to the continued convergence and collaboration of our tourism stakeholders…in propelling our industry to the heights of becoming a tourist powerhouse in Asia,” she added.
DOT records show that the country’s tourism industry, a major pillar of the economy, breached its 1.7-million target by year-end, with 2.65 million international visitor arrivals.
In fact, this translated to more than P208.96 billion or US$3.68 billion in tourism revenues, drawing cheers from the country’s economic team members.
Of the 2.65 million tourist arrivals last year, a total of 628,445 were returning overseas Filipinos.
Truth is, the government is doing a great job in encouraging foreigners, including Americans, South Koreans, Australians, Canadians, Britons, Singaporeans, Malaysians and Chinese, to visit Manila.
And this is good news!
