Philippines targets 50 pct increase in inbound tourists in 2024

The Philippine tourism ministry said on Tuesday it aims to attract 7.7 million foreign visitors next year after exceeding its 2023 arrival target.

As Tourism Minister Christina Frasco (pictured) noted in the metro Manila city of Makati on Tuesday, that's up about 52% from the 5.07 million foreign visitors to South Korea in the calendar year since January.

"While I understand that for over 8.2 million international arrivals, we are not yet in pre-pandemic figures for 2019, what I can guarantee is that we will push as hard as possible to reach this goal and fully activate our convergence with other government agencies," Ms Prasco was quoted as saying in a ministry statement regarding the 2024 target

The Philippines is one of the few regions in Asia to open up a broad casino industry to locals as well as foreigners. Many commentators noted that the Philippine casino sector benefited from the return of visitors from overseas as well as domestic demand in 2023.

Still, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said in a note on Tuesday that the "lower-than-expected" number of tourists from China was a factor in the Philippine tourism industry's 2023 performance being "below expectations."

According to industry commentators, the Chinese have historically been an important target market for Chinese casinos.

So far in 2023, South Korea has been the top source market for just over 1.34 million Philippine tourists, followed by the U.S. with 836,694, Japan with 285,655, China with 252,171 and Australia with 238,487, according to the latest update from the tourism ministry.

In 2019, the Philippines recorded 1.74 million arrivals from China, Maybank said in a research note.

China is engaged in an ongoing law enforcement campaign against mainland residents taking "overseas gambling" at bricks and mortar casinos abroad and Chinese citizens taking part in online gambling.

The Chinese embassy in the Philippines said in a statement on Thursday that the two countries "co-operated in the repatriation of 180 Chinese nationals who gambled offshore in the Philippines" on the same day.

The embassy said the attack came after Philippine law enforcement agencies stormed the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in Pasa city, Manila, on Oct. 27.

"At the request of the Philippine side, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines quickly helped identify the Chinese among them and helped with the repatriation process," said a statement from the local Chinese mission.

BY: 바카라 필승법