The Philippines targets to attract about 15 percent more inbound visitors from the United States, seeing the highly valuable market as a big contributor to the full recovery of the tourism sector.

In 2023, more than 1.4 million visitors from the US arrived in the Philippines, generating PHP35 billion in revenues — the highest among the country’s top tourist markets.

“This is 215 percent higher than the tourism receipts from South Korea, so this is how important the American market (is). While the arrivals are fewer, the contribution is bigger,” Philippine Tourism Director-Attache in New York Francisco Hilario Lardizabal said over the weekend.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that visitor receipts in 2023 reached PHP482.54 billion, with the US as the top spending market, followed by Australia with PHP17.74 billion, South Korea with PHP16.41 billion, Canada with PHP15.85 billion, China with PHP12.24 billion, and Japan with PHP10.02 billion.

In a briefing with visiting Filipino journalists on April 26, the official said the American market tends to spend more and stay longer in a destination.

In the Philippines, Lardizabal said majority or 55 percent of inbound travelers from the US are former Filipinos, whose main travel motivation is to visit friends and relatives.

“Filipinos from the US do go around the Philippines and stay longer in the Philippines, and mind you, they also spend a lot. Apart from the money they spend on travel, they sometimes also give out money to their relatives,” he shared.

Presenting the country’s planned promotion efforts for the entire year, Lardizabal is confident the Philippines will achieve 15 percent more of the 2023 arrival figure.

Lardizabal said the DOT is doing a multi-pronged approach to entice the market by forging partnerships, conducting more trainings for travel agents, joining B2B (business-to-business) travel trade events, and organizing curated familiarization tours.

Emerging trends

Prior to the pandemic, most US travelers to the Philippines were baby boomers or those in the age bracket of 60 to 78 and Generation X or those aged 44 to 59.

Citing a 2022 study, Lardizabal said majority of US travelers “showing interest in the Philippines” now are millennials or those born between 1981 and 1996.

“Iyon ang dapat natin bigyan ng pansin (That should be our focus), how do we address the needs and preferences of the millennials,” he said.

The emerging travel trends in this market are geared toward immersion or experiential travel, wellness tourism, workcation, premium travel, solo travel, and adventure and sports, among others.

In the US alone, Lardizabal noted the uptick in sales for sports and equipment for other activities such as hiking, horseback riding, cycling and scuba diving. (PNA)