Manila - More foreign tourists visited the Philippines and spent more money here last month despite the political turmoil created by accusations of corruption in a cancelled government deal, figures showed.
International tourism receipts surged 24.2 percent to $394 million in January on the back of a 7.8-percent rise in visitor arrivals and increased tourists spending, according to the tourism department`s Tourism Research and Statistics Division.
That proved the claim of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association that the travel sector has so far been insulated from the controversy caused by the $329-million deal to connect all government agencies in a computer network won by ZTE Corp. of China.
The deal was eventually scrapped after a whistle-blower claimed it was overpriced as a result of kickbacks.
The tourism department said foreign arrivals hit 293,803 in January against 272,525 in the same month last year.
“The considerable turnout of visitors in January set a new record for the month in review with a 7.8-percent growth,” the department said.
It said the $394.04 million in tourism receipts that month was 24.23 percent higher than last year`s $317.19 million.
Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano earlier said the Philippines would earn $5.8 billion from the 3.4 million to 3.5 million visitors arriving this year.
Some 3.1 million foreign visitors visited the country last year and spent $4.9 billion.
The travel sector expects more arrivals particularly from North America as Hawaiian Airlines starts its Manila-Honolulu service in April.
Tourists have also started coming via cruise ships. Three of those arrived in January carrying 2,502 visitors.
The tourism department said the foreign tourists spent an average of $1,181 in January and stayed for 15.97 nights.
South Korea provided the biggest number of visitors followed by the United States, Japan, China and Australia, it said.
Source: www.manilastandardtoday.com (22 Februari 2008)
