17 May 2004
Philippines Tourists arrivals posted a 25.7% growth rate in May
Tourists arrivals reached an all time high increase of 25.7% in May
according to the monthly statistics report from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Tourism Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan said.
According to the latest figures from NAIA, a 65.07% growth rate was
noted in the May 13 visitor arrivals as a result of the 5,071 tourists
versus the 3,072 figure posted during the same period last year.
Based on the monthly reports coming from all ports of entry including NAIA, January attained a growth rate of 18.2%; February with 13.7%
; March has 17.0% ; April has 23.0% and May 1-13 has 25.7%. January to April 20, 2004 comprised the actual arrivals to NAIA while, April 21-May 13, 2004 are estimates based on BI data with assumption of 50% of passengers are tourists, statistics office said.
Pagdanganan said, "The increase in growth rate was attributed to the
Ganda ng Pilipinas, Galing ng Pilipino (GP2) campaign of the department as part of the marketing efforts of the department to boost the country in the international market." He added that the political stability of the Arroyo administration will further boost the tourist arrivals in the country which is expected to reach 2.5 million by the end of the year. This figure is 14% higher than the 2.2 million arrivals in 1997, so far the highest record attained for visitor arrivals in the country.
The official arrival and departure as well as shipping manifests, moreover, revealed that the month of March, attained a growth rate of 23.9% out of the 194,507 tourists who arrived to the country this year as compared with the 157,036 visitors last year.
DOT sources said, the tourist arrivals in three months generated an
estimated tourism receipts of US$502.08 million to the country marking a
24.02% increase from the US$404.83 revenue during the same period last year.
Based on airport records, Cebu ranked first in growth rate with 33.50%,
followed by Davao with 25.42% and Manila with 14.90% in tourist arrivals for the month of March.
On the other hand seaport data revealed that Zamboanga topped the growth rate with 84.38%, followed by Cebu with 67.37% and Subic, 38.11%.
According to tourist arrivals by target market, the East Asia dominated
arrivals in March 2004 with 82,691 or 43.9% share of the total volume. DOT noted a double digit increase in tourist arrivals from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile, the North America ranked second in March, attaining a volume of 48,548 or 22.9% share of the total. U.S. still dominated the tourist arrivals from North America with 42,929.
The DOT noted that the Philippines also continue to receive more tourists
coming from our Southeast Asian neighbors like Singapore, Malaysia and
Thailand.
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