Tourist arrivals hit record high in Philippines

Feb 9, 2012, 8:43 GMT

Manila - Tourist arrivals in the Philippines hit a record high last year, reaching nearly 4 million visitors, the government said Thursday.

A total of 3.92 million tourists visited during 2011, up 11.3 per cent from 3.52 million in 2010, the Department of Tourism said.

South Korea was the Philippines' largest tourist market, providing 925,204 of the visitors to the country, followed by the United States, Japan, China and Taiwan.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez said he was confident that the tourist arrivals would further increase under the department's new 'It's More Fun in the Philippines' marketing campaign.

'With the overwhelming response to our new brand campaign, we know that we have broken ground in crowd-sourcing,' he said. 'The people's campaign will help bring more numbers.'

Last month, the Department of Tourism launched the new campaign in the hope of drawing 4.2 million tourists in 2012. The campaign has prompted Filipinos around the world to come up with reasons why it is more fun in the Philippines and post suggestions online.