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By Mayen Jaymalin, Cecille Suerte Felipe
The Philippine Star

More tourists arrived in the country from January to October despite the deadly Glorietta 2 explosion, the Department of Tourism reported yesterday.

“From January to October, we have recorded a total of 2.5 million foreign visitors compared to 2.3 million international arrivals during the same period last year,” Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said.

In October alone, Durano said foreign visitors totaled 229,250 or 7.1 percent more than the 214,055 recorded in the same period last year.

The number of tourists swelled despite some foreign advisories against traveling to the Philippines in the aftermath of the Glorietta 2 blast, which killed 11 people and wounded more than a hundred others and was initially blamed on terrorists.

Based on DOT data, South Koreans represent the biggest number of foreign tourists at 522, 410, followed by visitors from the United States at 477,752, and Japan at 333,874. Bigger numbers of tourists also arrived from China, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

With the steady increase in the number of tourists, Durano said he is confident that tourist arrivals will breach the three million mark by yearend.

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