Philippine government predicts tourism boost

The Philippine government is confident that this year's tourist arrivals will surpass the 4.27- million level recorded in 2012. "We expect more tourists to come in and they will be spending more here in the Philippines," Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Thursday. He said the government plans to sustain this momentum by developing the country's infrastructure particularly in the tourism sector and remove the common carriers tax so that more tourists come in. The Philippines has surpassed the 4 million visitor arrival mark for 2012, posting a total of 4,272,811 foreign visitors last year. This figure is 9.07 percent higher than the previous year but fell short of the government's 4.6-million tourist arrival target. The Department of Tourism said this shortfall is due to economic and political uncertainties in the country's traditional markets such as the United States, Europe and China. But tourism officials remain confident that it is on track in achieving its goal of 10 million tourist arrivals by 2016. The Republic of Korea remains the biggest market for the Philippines. A total of 1 million Korean visitors came to the Philippines in 2012. The U.S. ranked second with 625,626 visitors, followed by Japan with 412,474 visitors.