30/11/2023
𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝟰.𝟴𝗠 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘀- 𝗗𝗢𝗧 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳
𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘢, 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴—The Philippines has breached its target of 4.8 million international visitor arrivals before yearend, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco announced Tuesday (Nov. 28).
The tourism chief shared the good news during the DOT’s 1st Philippine Golf Tourism Summit held at Grand Hyatt Manila that gathered tourism and golf industry leaders and stakeholders to engage in convergence with the government to explore and expand the full potential of the Philippine golf tourism industry.
As of November 27, 2023, the country has registered a total of 4,822,530 million visitors who visited the country, with foreign tourists still comprising the bulk of arrivals by 91.88 percent or 4,430,725, while the remaining 8.12 percent or 391,805 are returning overseas Filipinos.
Specifically, South Korea remains the country’s top source market for foreign arrivals which brought in 1,271,602 tourists or 26.37 percent of the total, followed by the United States of America (USA) with 797,181 (16.53 percent), Japan with 272,735 (5.66 percent), China with 242,107 (5.02 percent), and Australia with 225,464 (4.68 percent) to complete the top five.
The Secretary emphasized that the support of the Marcos Administration for the DOT has been very instrumental in translating the targets into achievements.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 4.8 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 2023. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 4.82 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘗𝘏𝘗404 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥 “𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘨” 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘴, 𝘑𝘳. 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯 2023 𝘵𝘰 2028 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳,” the tourism chief said.
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 5.35 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺,” she added.
The liberalization of visa policies, the building of tourist rest areas, the establishment of the first ever multi-platform tourist call center, the construction of tourism roads, the development of cruise, education, medical, gastronomy, and sports tourism, expansion of dive tourism, and heritage and cultural tourism caravans and all other initiatives that have been lobbied by the DOT to attract visitors also contributed to these achievements, according to the Secretary.
𝗧𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗳 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺
With the DOT also positioning the Philippines as a global hub for sports tourism, including golf, the tourism chief said that the time is now for the government and private sector to work together.
“𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴' 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪-𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦,” she said.
Currently, the Philippines has over 100 golf courses spread across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, with Santa Barbara Golf Course in Iloilo Province deemed as the oldest, which was built in 1907, thus, making the country a home to one of the oldest golf courses in Asia.
“𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰,” Secretary Frasco said.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺,” she concluded.
Panelists of the summit included Business Mirror Golf Editor Mike Besa who discussed “The Potential of Golf Tourism”; Outlast Sports and Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Salauddin SS who shared “The Right Market”; and Philippine Tour Operator Association (PHILTOA) President Fe Abling-Yu who discussed “First Tee With the Tourism Industry”; and Lipa, Batangas Vice Governor and founder of Golf Batangas Mark Leviste.
The summit was organized by the DOT’s Office of Product Development of Golf Tourism and Special Projects.
