The Philippines’ tourism revenue has reached a total of USD9.31 billion last year, up by 20.81 percent from USD7.71 billion receipts in 2018, the Department of Tourism (DOT) revealed Monday.

Aside from all-time high earnings, 2019 has also witnessed several tourism milestones as the Philippines also achieved its targeted 8.2 million international arrivals.

DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said these figures confirmed the importance of the tourism sector as a key economic driver of the Philippines.

“The Philippines tourism industry’s continued impressive performance dramatizes the dedication, hard work and resilience of its stakeholders through a most challenging year. We count on the same enduring qualities to get us through the challenges this year,” she said.

Foreign guests to the Philippines incurred USD128.35 average daily expenditure while the average per capita expenditure for a whole trip is pegged at USD1,218.04 on an average length of stay 9.49 nights.

The double-digit growth in visitor was observed from February to December 2019, with August exhibiting the highest growth at 31.45 percent. Meanwhile, the largest volume was recorded in December at USD872.13 million.

Based on data from the DOT Office of Tourism Development Planning, Research and Information Management, the top visitor market South Korea posted the highest tourism spending of about USD2,614,685,263 followed by China with USD2,330,491,557 and the United States with USD1,208,907,514.

Romulo-Puyat cited cooperation among the government, tourism industry, and civil societies in realizing the goals of the National Tourism Development Plan for 2016-2022, the masterplan of the country’s sustainable tourism program.

Rounding off the 10 highest spending markets are Japan, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Germany and Malaysia. (PNA)