Visitor Receipts. From January to December 2015, the Philippines generated earnings amounting to Php 227.62 billion from the 5.36 million visitors to the country. This amount is 5.92% higher than the previous earnings of Php 214.88 billion for the same period in 2014. December recorded the biggest receipts amounting to Php 23.47 billion, while the month of September registered the highest growth of 24.24%.

Sources of Data: A/D Cards & Shipping Manifests

The Average Daily Expenditure (ADE) for the month of December 2015 is Php 5,513.67. On the other hand, Average Length of Stay (ALoS) of tourists in the country for the year is registered at 8.66 nights. Moreover, Average per capita expenditure of visitors for this month was Php 47,472.66.

Korea is still the top spending market with visitor spending amounting to Php 6.29 billion. U.S.A. ranked second with Php 4.39 billion expenditure followed by Canada with Php 1.46 billion, overtaking Australia which provided Php 1.39 billion to take the fourth spot. Completing the top five spending markets is Japan with visitor spending of Php1.16 billion for the month.

Among the top twelve markets of the country, visitors from Germany recorded the highest per capita spending for the month of December with Php 70,433.89 while visitors from Canada provided the second biggest per capita spending of Php 62,966.40. United Kingdom ranked third with per capita spending of Php 53,263.20. Other top markets with high per capita spending include U.S.A. with Php 50,395.11, Korea with Php 46,539.27 and Australia with Php 42,271.69.

Visitor Arrivals. The Philippine tourism industry marked another milestone as visitor arrivals surpassed the Five Million arrivals, as the country welcomed a total of 5,360,682 visitors in 2015. It posted a 10.91% growth from the 4,833,368 visitors in 2014. The strong performance of the industry could be attributed to the intensified marketing campaigns that the country mounted during the year, the influx of visitors during the Christmas holidays, as well as, the international media exposure of the country as major international events were successfully held in the Philippines such as the visit of Pope Francis, APEC 2015 meetings and tourism events such as Madrid Fusion Manila which help boost arrivals to the country.

The month of December supplied the biggest arrivals at 553,002 tourists while the month of September posted the highest growth of 19.64%. Consistent positive growth rates were recorded throughout the year.

By regional grouping, the East Asian region is the biggest source of arrivals taking almost half of the total inbound traffic by producing 2,636,191 tourists, sharing 49.18% to the total visitor volume. It grew by 14.65% compared to the 2,299,350 arrivals in 2014. Korea, Japan and China which belong to this region accounted for more than 43% to the total volume.

The North American region finished second by accumulating 938,725 arrivals, constituting 17.51% of the total arrivals. This region recorded an increase of 7.98% from last year’s volume of 869,365 arrivals. It was followed by the ASEAN with 481,567 arrivals, comprising 8.98% of the total inbound traffic. The Australasia/Pacific region recorded a total of 302,958 arrivals with a share of 5.65% to the total. This figure is higher by 5.56% than the output of 287,013 the previous year. Northern European region accounted for a total of 234,630 arrivals, sharing 4.38% to total arrivals. It registered a growth of 12.43% against its output of 208,691 arrivals the previous year.

For the month of December, 99.30% or 549,155 visitors entered the country through various airports while the rest, at 3,847 visitors entered through various seaports.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport, as the primary port of entry of the country, welcomed 72.21% of the total visitor volume with 399,303 visitors. Cebu, as the second busiest airport, welcomed 74,825 visitors, a share of 13.53% while Kalibo received 50,526 visitors which constituted 9.14% of the total arrivals. The rest of the airports accumulated 24,501 visitors sharing 4.44% to the total arrivals.

Meanwhile, arrivals by sea summed to 3,847 arrivals, of which, Batangas port recorded 1,312 arrivals followed by the port in Davao with 1,208 arrivals. The combined arrivals of the rest of the seaports accounted for 0.23% or 1,327 arrivals.

Countries in Asia supplied more than half of the visitors to the Philippines in December 2015 with 52.21% of the total arrivals accumulating to 288,710 visitors. Some countries from East Asian markets posted double-digit gains, with China showing the biggest growth of 88.34%. The Americas followed with 111,207 arrivals for a market share of 20.11%. Europe contributed 70,767 arrivals (12.80%) while Australasia/Pacific recorded 40,472 arrivals (7.32%). The month of December also marked the influx Overseas Filipinos with a total of 30,147 arrivals (5.45%).

Visitor Markets, January to December 2015. Korea still continued to be the biggest visitor-generating market with the year 2015 marking another milestone for this country by providing 1.34 million visitors, the first country market to passed the 1.3 million mark. This market accounted for one-fourth or 25% of the total arrivals and likewise registering a significant growth of 13.97%. Since 2012, this market is consistent in producing more than a million arrivals to the country. All top twelve markets sustained positive growth with Germany reclaiming its position in the top 12 countries after it lost to India the previous months. On the other hand, among the top 12 markets, China was able to post the highest growth of 24.28%, followed by Taiwan with an increase of 24.27%.

The United States of America supplied the 2nd biggest influx of tourist arrivals with 779,217 visitors constituting 14.54% of the total and posting a 7.81% increase versus its arrivals of 722,750 in 2014. Japan claimed the 3rd spot, providing 495,662 visitors and sharing 9.25% to the total. This market grew by 6.88% vis-à-vis its arrivals of 463,744 a year ago. China followed by contributing 490,841 visitors, comprising 9.16% to the total inbound traffic. The 5th major inbound market was Australia with 241,187 arrivals, constituting 4.50% of the total.

Rounding up the top ten visitor markets are Singapore (+1.16%) with 181,176 arrivals, Taiwan (+24.27%) with 177,670 arrivals, Canada (+8.66%) with 156,363 arrivals, Malaysia (+11.90%) with 155,814 arrivals, and United Kingdom (+15.65%) with 154,589 arrivals.

High growth markets, January to December 2015. In addition to the top twelve markets, countries with substantial growth in inbound are: Spain with 24,144 arrivals (+24.76%), New Zealand with 20,579 arrivals (+16.24%), France with 45,505 (+16.84%), Saudi Arabia with 50,884 arrivals (+17.02%), Netherlands with 28,632 arrivals (+13.46%), and Hongkong with 122,180 (+7.08).

Source: www.tourism.gov.ph