South Koreans topped list of tourist arrivals

South Korean tourists enjoy horse-back riding in Baguio City’s Wright Park on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2012. South Korea remained the Philippines’ largest source of tourists in 2013 while the number of tourists coming from China went down by 70 percent, immigration authorities said. PHOTO BY RICK ALBERTO

MANILA, Philippines—South Korea remained the Philippines’ largest source of tourists this year while the number of tourists coming from China went down by 70 percent, immigration authorities said.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, the Bureau of Immigration said South Koreans topped the chart of top ten tourists in the Philippines in 2013 with 1,010,056 arrivals from Jan. 1 to Dec. 5 this year.

It was followed by the United States with 649,664 tourist arrivals to the Philippines and Japan with 371,122.

China remained at the fourth spot with 312,395 tourist arrivals during the same period.

Siegfred Mison, Bureau of Immigration officer in charge, noted the decline of tourists coming from China in the last three years.

“There was a big decline. Remember that two to three years ago, most of our tourists were coming from China. From last year up to this year, it’s now South Korea,” said Mison, noting a 70 percent decline of Chinese arrivals following the 2010 Manila bus hostage crisis.—Nina P. Calleja