Tourism arrivals in Philippines, Cambodia jump
Tourism arrivals have been significantly rising in both the Philippines and Cambodia in the first half of the year, mainly owing to more visitors from China and a shift from traditional holiday countries such as Thailand, which currently suffers from stagnating numbers due to a strong baht, immigration bureaucracy and deteriorating services in the sector.
The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) on August 12 announced that it is already halfway to its international tourist arrival target and have recorded more than 4.1 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first half of 2019.
The DOT said there are 4,133,050 international tourists who visited the Philippines from January to June this year. This figure is 11.43 per cent higher than from the previous year. For June 2019 alone, the total number of tourist arrivals hit 643,780, a 21.41-per cent increase against the 530,267 recorded arrivals from last year.
The DOT said South Koreans are still the top tourists while China comes second as top source market followed by the US, Japan and Taiwan.
Tourism chief Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that seven years ago, it took an entire year to reach four million tourists.
“The Philippine tourism industry has indeed come a long way with better and increased connectivity. New, rehabilitated and expanded airports have contributed much to this growth,” Puyat said.
“By expanding our portfolio of tourism products and by developing and promoting our lesser-known but emerging destinations, we have attracted a large yet diverse set of foreign travelers and have sustained our growth in the highly-competitive South East Asian region,” she added.
For the full year, the DOT is targeting around 8.2 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2019, one million more than 2018.
Meanwhile, Cambodia welcomed 3.3 million holidaymakers during the first half of the year, an 11.2-per cent% hike, according to the latest data from the country’s tourism ministry.
The number of Chinese tourists, in particular, experienced strong growth from January to June. About 1.2 million Chinese nationals visited the country during the first half of this year, a 38 per cent increase, the Khmer Times reported on August 89.
China remains Cambodia’s largest tourism source market, accounting for 38.7 per cent of all tourists. It is followed by Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, ranking second, third and fourth, respectively. Tourism arrivals from South Korea, on the other hand, declined by 20.2 per cent, while those from the US decreased by 1.1 per cent, the ministry said.
Overall, ministry spokesman Top Sopheak said the sector is experiencing healthy growth.
“In our view, the tourism sector is developing positively. The number of foreign tourists visiting the country continues to grow,” Sopheak said, adding that “tourists from certain countries have indeed decreased but this is a normal market trend that should not worry us because, overall, the number of tourists has increased.”
According to the ministry, Siem Reap province, home of the famed Angkor Archaeological Park, the country’s top tourist sight, saw a decline in visitors from January to June. Just 1.2 million foreign tourists visited the site, an eight-per cent decrease. In contrast, Phnom Penh and coastal areas saw strong growth in tourist arrivals, with the capital welcoming more than two million people and the coast nearly 600,000, a 27-per cent hike in both cases.
Sopheak noted that the rising number of Chinese visitors to the Kingdom is part of a wider trend, with more and more Chinese nationals traveling for leisure outside their country.
“The number of Chinese tourists is rising everywhere, not just Cambodia. But in the case of Cambodia, the close diplomatic ties with the Chinese government and the increase in investment coming from that country is certainly helping attract more tourists,” Sopheak said.
In 2018, 6.2 million foreign holidaymakers visited the kingdom, a 10.7-per cent increase year-on-year. Cambodia expects to attract seven million foreign tourists a year by 2020, generating $4.3 billion for the industry. About two million of those visitors will come from China.
Tourism arrivals have been significantly rising in both the Philippines and Cambodia in the first half of the year, mainly owing to more visitors from China and a shift from traditional holiday countries such as Thailand, which currently suffers from stagnating numbers due to a strong baht, immigration bureaucracy and deteriorating services in the sector. The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) on August 12 announced that it is already halfway to its international tourist arrival target and have recorded more than 4.1 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first half of 2019. The DOT said there are 4,133,050 international tourists...
Tourism arrivals have been significantly rising in both the Philippines and Cambodia in the first half of the year, mainly owing to more visitors from China and a shift from traditional holiday countries such as Thailand, which currently suffers from stagnating numbers due to a strong baht, immigration bureaucracy and deteriorating services in the sector.
The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) on August 12 announced that it is already halfway to its international tourist arrival target and have recorded more than 4.1 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first half of 2019.
The DOT said there are 4,133,050 international tourists who visited the Philippines from January to June this year. This figure is 11.43 per cent higher than from the previous year. For June 2019 alone, the total number of tourist arrivals hit 643,780, a 21.41-per cent increase against the 530,267 recorded arrivals from last year.
The DOT said South Koreans are still the top tourists while China comes second as top source market followed by the US, Japan and Taiwan.
Tourism chief Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that seven years ago, it took an entire year to reach four million tourists.
“The Philippine tourism industry has indeed come a long way with better and increased connectivity. New, rehabilitated and expanded airports have contributed much to this growth,” Puyat said.
“By expanding our portfolio of tourism products and by developing and promoting our lesser-known but emerging destinations, we have attracted a large yet diverse set of foreign travelers and have sustained our growth in the highly-competitive South East Asian region,” she added.
For the full year, the DOT is targeting around 8.2 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2019, one million more than 2018.
Meanwhile, Cambodia welcomed 3.3 million holidaymakers during the first half of the year, an 11.2-per cent% hike, according to the latest data from the country’s tourism ministry.
The number of Chinese tourists, in particular, experienced strong growth from January to June. About 1.2 million Chinese nationals visited the country during the first half of this year, a 38 per cent increase, the Khmer Times reported on August 89.
China remains Cambodia’s largest tourism source market, accounting for 38.7 per cent of all tourists. It is followed by Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, ranking second, third and fourth, respectively. Tourism arrivals from South Korea, on the other hand, declined by 20.2 per cent, while those from the US decreased by 1.1 per cent, the ministry said.
Overall, ministry spokesman Top Sopheak said the sector is experiencing healthy growth.
“In our view, the tourism sector is developing positively. The number of foreign tourists visiting the country continues to grow,” Sopheak said, adding that “tourists from certain countries have indeed decreased but this is a normal market trend that should not worry us because, overall, the number of tourists has increased.”
According to the ministry, Siem Reap province, home of the famed Angkor Archaeological Park, the country’s top tourist sight, saw a decline in visitors from January to June. Just 1.2 million foreign tourists visited the site, an eight-per cent decrease. In contrast, Phnom Penh and coastal areas saw strong growth in tourist arrivals, with the capital welcoming more than two million people and the coast nearly 600,000, a 27-per cent hike in both cases.
Sopheak noted that the rising number of Chinese visitors to the Kingdom is part of a wider trend, with more and more Chinese nationals traveling for leisure outside their country.
“The number of Chinese tourists is rising everywhere, not just Cambodia. But in the case of Cambodia, the close diplomatic ties with the Chinese government and the increase in investment coming from that country is certainly helping attract more tourists,” Sopheak said.
In 2018, 6.2 million foreign holidaymakers visited the kingdom, a 10.7-per cent increase year-on-year. Cambodia expects to attract seven million foreign tourists a year by 2020, generating $4.3 billion for the industry. About two million of those visitors will come from China.
