Visitors to RP total nearly 1 mil in first 2 months up 5.84%

The Philippines saw estimated visitor receipts of Php 19.35 billion in February this year when visitor arrivals for the month reached 456,524,an increase of 8.02% compared to the arrivals of 422,631 for the same month in 2014. Moreover, visitor arrivals for the first two months of the year grew by 5.84% reaching 935,673 visitors, according to statistics made available at the Korea office of Philippine Department of Tourism(PDoT) in Seoul on April 15.
In US Dollars, visitor receipts reached US$ 437.52 million with an increase of 5.84% from February 2014's earnings of US$ 413.39 million. For the month in review, visitors from Korea provided the highest contribution with Php7.36 billion, while the second biggest spent was recorded by visitors from the United States of America with Php 3.01 billion.

This was followed by Japan with Php 913.33million and Canada (Php 857.53 million). Australia with Php 836.43 million provided the 5th biggest visitor receipts for the month.
Average Daily Expenditure (ADE) of international visitors for the month of February 2015 was recorded at Php 4,149.29. On the other hand, Average Length of Stay (ALoS) was registered at 10.40 nights which is longer by 1.46% versus the February 2014’s 10.25 nights. Average per capita expenditure of visitors for the month in review was recorded at Php 43,152.666
Visitor arrivals in February 2015 yielded 456,524 which are 8.02% higher than the February 2014 arrivals of 422,631. It can be noted that the increase was achieved despite the fact that the Chinese New Year in 2014 was celebrated in February, hence, this month' s volume is coming from a big base in 2014. The expansion in visitor volume for February can be attributed to the increases in tourist arrivals from the main markets.
It can be noted that except for China, all markets in East Asia recorded double digit gains such as Hong Kong which grew by 37.58%, Taiwan which grew by 24.91 %, Macau which grew by 22.00%, Korea which grew by 18.23%, and Japan with growth of 12.62%.
Even China was able to reduce its decline to 15.50% despite the Chinese New Year celebration in February 2014, producing a growth of 98.53% from this market in 2014. Countries from North America produced a combined growth rate of 7.55% with U.S.A recording a growth of 7.21 % while Canada registered a growth of 8.71 %. On the other hand, Mexico recorded a 52.60% increase.

Asia contributed the biggest arrivals for the Philippines during the month with 281,447visitors for a share of 61.65% to the total arrivals. Americas followed with 79,381 for a market share of 17.39%; Europe which comprised 11.05% of the total.
For the first two months of 2015, South Korea still positioned itself as the leading contributor of international arrivals with 268,381 arrivals, for a share of 28.68% to the total inbound traffic.
The United States of America supplied the 2nd largest influx of tourist arrival with 142,226 visitors. This market recorded an increase of 7.76% vis-a-visits arrivals of 131,978 for the same period last year.
Japan contributed the 3rd biggest arrivals, amassing 83,489 visitors, or 8.92% of the total. Arrivals from China aggregated to 62,976 for a share of 6.73% to total tourist traffic.
The 5th biggest arrivals were provided by Australia with 40,906 arrivals and grew by 7.62%. Summing up the top ten visitor markets are Canada with 31,068 arrivals, Singapore with 27,274 arrivals, Taiwan with 27,002 arrivals, Malaysia with 23,444 arrivals and United Kingdom with 23,341 arrivals.
Other emerging markets with substantial growth in inbound entry include: Netherlands with 5,314 arrivals (+27.71 %), India with 11,465 arrivals (+24.31%), France with 10,239 arrivals (+20.74%), Saudi Arabia with 7,952 arrivals (+14.63%), Vietnam with 5,618 arrivals (+8.71 %), and Switzerland with 5,546 arrivals.