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Philippines overcomes Boracay scare

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MANILA, 31 August 2018: The Philippines reports an 11.8% increase in tourist arrivals, January to July, according to Tourism Secretary, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

Commenting to local media, this week, she said Boracay’s closure, last April, had not caused a decline in tourists to the country.

“They were successfully diverted to alternative destinations such as Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Bicol, even Siargao,” Puyat noted.

Puyat attributed the positive growth in tourism to the Department of Tourism and tourism stakeholders who were able to promote different communities.

“Though visiting Boracay was not possible, tourists could still have a memorable time seeing the rest of the Philippines,” she said.

Department of Tourism statistics for the seven months, January to July, showed the country welcomed 4,261,474 visitors up 11.8%, excluding returning expatriate Filipinos. If they were included arrivals reached 4,308,043 up 9.43%.

Puyat took over the post of Department of Tourism Secretary last May after the former Tourism secretary resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations that she denied.

In an official statement on tourist arrival results, released 23 August, the Department of Tourism said foreign arrivals, during July, tallied 601,322, posting a growth rate of 5.86% up from the 568,035 recorded in the same period last year.

Including overseas Filipinos the total visitor count for January to July reached 4,308,043, or a 9.43% jump from 3,925,626 arrivals recorded last year.

Puyat noted: “Things are looking brighter for the tourism industry. With the roll-out of a comprehensive branding campaign in the coming months and the scheduled reopening of Boracay on October 26, we are optimistic that we will hit, or better still, surpass our target of 7.4 million for 2018.”

According to data from DOT’s Statistics, Economic Analysis and Information Management Division (SEAIMD), Korea remains the country’s top source market, followed by China, United States, Japan and Australia.

Citing the statistical reports, Puyat added:  “Most of our international visitors came from Korea, who make up a 21.76% share of all visitors. Nearly 1 million Korean nationals have visited this year so far. Tourists from China and US also made up a large percentage of the country’s visitors.”

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