DFA: Saudi tourists in the Philippines reach record-high

By: Matikas Santos - 10 years ago

Growth of visitors in the Philippines from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Infographics from DFA.

MANILA, Philippines – The arrival of visitors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is at an all-time high, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement Tuesday.

In 2013, there were 38,969 visitors from KSA that came to the Philippines, higher by more than 8,000 compared to the 30,040 tourists who came in 2012.

The number of visitors has steadily grown from 19,101 in 2009, 22,214 in 2010, and 27,945 in 2011, according to data released by the DFA.

“The consistent increase has been helped by the [Philippine] Embassy [in Saudi Arabia’s] tourism promotion activities in the Kingdom, in partnership with Saudi travel agencies accredited with the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT),” the DFA said in its statement.

“In April 2013, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the DOT participated in the Riyadh Travel Fair. The event drew 998 visitors, with many inquiring about holiday packages to prime destinations like Boracay, Palawan, Bohol’s Chocolate Hills, and Panglao Island, and Davao’s Pearl Farm,” it said.

The Philippine Embassy, with the DOT, is set to participate again in the Riyadh Travel Fair 2014 from April 12 to 16, the DFA said.

Saudi Arabia is the second-most popular destination for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

There are 1,267,658 permanent, temporary, and irregular Filipinos in Saudi according to Dec. 2012 data from the Commission on Filipino Overseas.

A large majority of Filipinos amounting to 1,159,634 are temporary residents, meaning they have limited-duration work contracts while they are in Saudi.