Foreign tourists spend $1 billion in early 2008

by Sammy Martin and Jayson Cruz Luna

THE Department of Tourism claimed that the domestic tourism industry generated some $1 billion during the first quarter of 2008.

Foreign tourist arrivals in the first quarter of the year rose marginally from a year earlier, still led by visitors from South Korea.

The Tourism department, which sourced its data from arrival and departure cards and shipping manifests, counted 858,244 arrivals from January 2008 to March 2008, which is 8.5-percent higher compared to the 790,888 tourist arrivals recorded during the same period last year.

The tourists spent a total of $1.022 billion during the period, the department said.

"Tourist spending amounted to $1.02 billion, with Korea accounting for the biggest bulk. The Scandinavian region, as well as Germany, Russia, Canada and Hong Kong, registered double-digit gains as shown by their increasing expenditure and length of stay over the previous years," the statement added.

Koreans topped the arrivals, with 175,147 of them arriving during the first quarter of the year, accounting for 20.4 percent of the total tourist arrivals.

The next biggest group of tourists came from the United States, with the 166,128, making up 19.4 percent; followed by tourists from Japan at 99,453 or 11.6 percent.

Fourth to sixth were mainland China with 48,619 (5.7percent) ; followed by Taiwan with 31,441 (3.7 percent); and Hong Kong, 31,344 (3.7 percent). If lumped together, the Chinese group totals 111,404 (13.1 percent), bigger than the Japanese group.

At the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia, Pasay City, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano led at least a hundred employers from tourism-related businesses offering thousands of jobs during the "Trabaho sa Turismo" exposition of the agency, which started Wednesday.

The two-day event, running on its third year, aims to generate more direct hiring jobs in Metro Manila and Luzon in the field of tourism.

Durano said that from 2004 to 2007, the tourism department generated 3.78 million direct employment jobs as influx of foreign visitors rose from 2.29 million in 2004 to 3.09 million last year, resulting in $4.89 billion in foreign exchange inflows in 2007 alone.

The Tourism department is targeting at least 3.5 million arrivals this year and five million by 2010, which will require the upgrading of tourism facilities all over the country.