Though nowhere near pre-coronavirus 2019 levels, tourist arrivals bounced back in 2022, exceeding the cumulative numbers of pandemic years 2020 and 2021.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) late Sunday reported arrivals stood at 2.6 million, rising by 1,519 percent from 163,879 in 2021.
Last year’s arrivals surpassed those of 2020, the first year of the pandemic, which stood at 1.48 million, and breached the 1.7 million target for 2022 by nearly a million.
Last year’s visitor arrivals generated P208.96 Billion. billion in revenues, just half of the P482 billion generated before COVID in 2019.
The industry had generated 5.23 million tourism-related jobs by the end of 2022, nearing the 5.71-million level in 2019.
Tourist arrivals peaked in 2019 at 8.2 million.
The DOT reported there were 11,989 DOT-accredited tourism enterprises as of Dec. 29, 2022. A total of 25,770 tourism stakeholders have also been trained.
Last year, Frasco announced the DOT is targeting 4.8 million international visitors in 2023 as its baseline but she remains hopeful the agency will again surpass its targets just like the achievements done in 2022.
“We look forward to the continued convergence and collaboration of our tourism stakeholders–travelers, tourism players, national agencies, local government units, and host communities–in propelling our industry to the heights of becoming a tourism powerhouse in Asia,” Frasco said.
In December alone, arrivals rose 34 percent f to 434,277 from 324,610 in November. In December 2021, arrivals stood at only 24,353.
“The holidays have delivered further gains for the Philippine tourism industry. ..Filipinos abroad were expected to flock back to the country for the annual Christmas and New Year celebrations as well as visits from foreign tourists who chose the Philippines as their holiday destination,” Frasco said.
The Philippines reopened its borders to all types of travelers in February.
Of the total 2.65 million international visitor arrivals last year, 628, 445 were returning Filipinos while the bulk of 2.02 million tourists were foreigners from the country’s top tourist markets from the United States (505,089), South Korea (428,014), Australia (137,974), Canada (121,413), the United Kingdom (101,034), Japan (99,557), Singapore (53,448), India (51,542), Malaysia (46,805), and China (39,627).
“We have overcome a global pandemic, survived various calamities, and thrived through a host of many other challenges, yet, the Philippine tourism industry has managed to exceed expectations and our tourism partners and frontliners continue to offer the best of Filipino grace and hospitality to the world,” Frasco said.
