The Philippines welcomed fewer than 2 million foreign tourists in the first four months of 2024, up 16.8% year-on-year, according to data released by the Philippine Tourism Ministry on Tuesday.

South Korea has the most visitors in the Philippines with a total of 571,384 arrivals from January to April, accounting for 27.1 percent of the total. The figure is up 24.4 percent year-on-year.

The second biggest source was the U.S., with 331,049 arrivals in the four months to April 30, flat year-over-year. And about 15.6% of all those who arrived in the period arrived.

China ranked in the top three with around 141,153 visitors in the first four months of the year, accounting for about 6.5% of all arrivals. The figure represents a 104.8% increase from the previous year.

Tourism Minister Christina Garcia Prasco said at the end of April that the department “has shown a positive trajectory for international tourist arrivals this year.”

“We are pleased that collaboration and collective efforts and efforts are taking shape in numbers that are beneficial to the industry as a whole,” she said.

“We hope more investment in tourism infrastructure and improved aviation, land, sea infrastructure and access will allow that number to rise further,” Mr Prasco added.

Domestic tourism revenue in the first three months of the year amounted to around 157.62 billion pounds ($2.75 billion), representing an “estimated 120.7% recovery” from the same period in 2019, the last trading year before the pandemic, according to the tourism ministry.

The Philippines aims to attract 7.7 million foreign visitors this year after exceeding its 2023 arrival target. The Philippines received a total of 5.45 million foreign visitors for all of 2023, with 91.8% being foreigners.

The Philippines is one of the few regions in Asia that has opened up its extensive casino industry to locals as well as foreigners. Many commentators have noted that the Philippine casino sector has benefited from the return of international visitors as well as domestic demand in 2023.

Maybank Securities said in a recent note that it expects the local gaming industry in the Philippines to achieve “at least about 15%” gross gaming revenue (GGR) growth in 2024. It expects GGR growth this year to be “driven by the domestic public and slot markets” and is “an uptick driven by a gradual recovery in the VIP segment led by Korean punters.”

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