Philippines reports 10% growth in tourist arrivals in Q1

Philippines’ tourism sector has shown signs of growth despite the financial crunch that left other industries struggling, reported the Daily Inquirer, quoting first-quarter data from the Department of Tourism.

The department’s first-quarter report shows tourist arrivals in top destinations of the country during the first quarter of 2009 grew by 10.33 percent for a total of 1.3 million.

Overall, the volume of domestic tourists visiting key destinations grew 13 percent while foreign arrivals recorded a 4 percent growth in the first quarter. Cebu attracted the biggest volume of tourists with a 32 percent share of visitors and 180,000 foreign tourist arrivals, the report said.

Cebu was followed by Boracay, a popular beach destination in the province of Aklan; Davao City; Camarines Sur; Zambales; and Bohol.

Domestic tourist arrivals to Puerto Princesa City and Coron in Palawan posted a record-breaking growth of 392% because of the increase in flights from Manila, Cebu, Caticlan, and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.

To further underscore the growth of the industry, the tourism department also announced that more rooms were opened in the first quarter of the year, a sign that investors were confident of the Philippines’ tourism prospects and that the industry continued to generate employment opportunities for Filipinos. 

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