MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government remains optimistic in reaching its goal of 8.2 million foreign travelers for the year as it welcomed the arrival yesterday of a 71-year-old Japanese woman as the country’s eight millionth visitor.
Yachiyo Imamoto arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on an All Nippon Airways flight from Yokohama along with her husband at past 1:30 p.m., according to the Department of Tourism (DOT).
The DOT gifted the Japanese couple with a round trip ticket to Manila and a domestic travel package, which includes lunch and dinner reservations.
“We are grateful to be chosen for this event. This is our eighth visit here and we always visit our close friends in the Philippines,” Imamoto said.
The couple had visited Cebu and Palawan.
“We will visit Baler this time around,” Imamoto said.
“The Filipinos are hospitable. I keep coming back for mangoes, masarap,” Imamoto’s husband, Tamio, said.
Tourism Assistant Secretary Roberto Alabado said hitting the eight-million mark in foreign tourist is cause for celebration.
“This is significant because this is the highest number we have achieved in terms of foreign arrivals,” he said.
With a few days left before the year ends, Alabado said the DOT remains confident of hitting the 8.2 million foreign arrivals target under the National Tourism Development Plan.
The DOT surpassed the 7,127,168 foreign visitors to the country last year.
Bureau of Immigration ports division chief Grifton Medina said they recorded around 100,000 tourist arrivals yesterday.
He said up to 700,000 foreigners usually visit the Philippines during the Yuletide season.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the relaunching of the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign, reopening of Boracay, sustainable tourism advocacy efforts, improved air connectivity, hosting of big-ticket tourism events, intensified digital and online marketing, mainstreaming of different tourism product portfolios including culinary tourism and farm tourism, healthy private-public partnerships and international recognitions helped the DOT in breaching the eight-million mark.
Records showed that a total of 6.8 million foreign visitors arrived in the Philippines from January to October this year, an increase of 15 percent from the 5.9 million foreign arrivals in the same period last year.
Korea remained the country’s top source market with 1,609,172 tourist arrivals, up by 21.75 percent from 2018, followed by China with a total of 1.5 million arrivals, an increase of 41.13 increase during the same period last year.
The United States ranked third with 872,335 arrivals. Japan was fourth with 569,625 followed by Taiwan with 282,220 arrivals. – With Ghio Ong