Manila: The department of tourism is happy with the arrival of almost 40,000 tourists from Saudi Arabia in 2013, a senior official said.
The arrival of 39,969 tourists from Saudi Arabia in 2013 represented 100 per cent growth from 19,101 tourists from the Middle Eastern country who arrived in the Philippines four years ago in 2009. “It’s a very encouraging development,” said Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, adding the growth rate was due to increased attendance of tourism officials in tourism fairs held in Riyadh and nearby regions in Saudi Arabia for the past several years.
The tourism department and other government-related agencies will present more destinations to tourists in Saudi Arabia at the Riyadh Travel Fair from April 12-16, said Jimenez, adding the aim is to make the Philippines known as a tourist spot among residents in the Middle East.
A big proportion of an estimated 10 million overseas Filipino workers are based in the Middle East. They can be the country’s best tourist promoters, said Jimenez, adding his country’s aim is to triple the arrival of tourists from Saudi Arabia in 2014.
The growing market from Saudi Arabia is still low in comparison with the arrival of other nationalities in the Philippines.
A total of 4.6 million tourists arrived in the Philippines in 2013, higher than the 4.2 million tourists who came in 2012, said Jimenez
They included 1.17 million South Koreans who arrived in 2013; 426,352 Chinese nationals; and 433,705 Japanese. Australians and Singaporeans came in as fourth and fifth largest sources of tourist arrival in the same period, said Jimenez.
The Philippines is projecting six million tourists in 2014, said Jimenez, author of the country’s tourism campaign: “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”
