MANILA— The foreign tourist arrivals to the Philippines in September 2018 is 6.76 percent higher than the same period last year.
At least 512,240 international tourists visited the country last month, making the overall arrivals since January this year 4,950,683, or about 8.32 percent higher than 2017.
South Korean remains as the country’s top market with 1.18 million of their nationals visiting the Philippines from January to September 2018, followed by China with 972,550 tourists.
Ranked third in terms of volume of visitors is the United States with 774,657 for the same period; placing fourth is Japan with 485,121; and fifth is Australia with 199,201.
Completing the top 10 markets were Taiwan (185,278 tourists), Canada 162,658), United Kingdom (148,301), Singapore (130,674), Malaysia (109,486), Hong Kong (94,356), and India (92,589).
In September 2018, Taiwan posted the highest growth rate with a 29.5 percent increase to 17,112 tourists last year.
Last June, the Philippines ranked second as the most hated countries among Taiwanese, reported a Taiwanese news site, citing a Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation survey. Notably, there had been a steady increase of Taiwanese arrivals from June to September.
Earlier, Shih-Pi Chou, director of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau said the Manila-Taipei tourism ties is continuously growing, with a similar increase of Filipino tourists to Taiwan. (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA)
