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Malaysians post 27.24% growth in PHL tourism arrivals in 2014

Malaysian tourists are looking at the Philippines more and more as favorite travel destination as it posted the highest growth in the country’s tourism arrivals in 2014 at 27.24 percent for the year, according to data from the Philippine Department of Tourism.

With 139,245 arrivals, Malaysia became the Philippines’ ninth largest tourist market for 2014, and it is also the third straight year that tourist arrivals from the country breached the 100,000 mark.

On the other hand, the Philippines is also an important tourism market for Malaysia, as it is the seventh major tourist market for the country, with 513,313 Filipinos visiting Malaysia last year.

“Malaysians are increasingly considering the Philippines as a preferred option for their vacations, thanks to the pro-active tourism campaigns undertaken by the Philippines in line with Visit Philippines Year 2015 (VPY 2015).

"It is complemented by increasing air travel connectivity between the Philippines and Malaysia and positive word-of-mouth in social media about the beauty of our destinations and the graciousness and hospitality of our people,” Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya said.

“We are looking forward to seeing more Malaysians visiting the country, as the VPY 2015 campaign ramps up and the country hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.

"The Embassy is also doing its part to bring in more Malaysian tourists to the Philippines as we undertake the second edition of the Ambassador’s Tour to the Philippines, specifically to Cebu and Bohol, on May 2 to 5,” he added.

“We are pleased to see a robust two-way flow in tourist exchanges, as people-to-people engagements and understanding serve as the best platform for stable, mutually beneficial relations,” Ambassador Malaya noted.

In 2014, Korea remained as the country’s leading source market with 1,175,472 arrivals, followed by the United States (722,750), Japan (463,744), China (394,951) and Australia (224,784).

Rounding up the top 10 were Singapore (179,099 arrivals), Canada (143,899), Taiwan (142,973), and the United Kingdom (133,665).

For January 2015, Malaysian tourist arrivals continues its upward trajectory as it posted the highest growth year-on-year at grew by 40.92 percent from previous year’s numbers, at 12,256 arrivals, compared to 8,697 arrivals during the same period last year. The country is also the eighth highest source of tourists for the same period.

Korea maintained its position as the leading source market for the country with 147,163 visitors, followed by the United States with 76,896 arrivals, Japan with 38,190 visitors, Australia with 23,281 arrivals and China with 21,164 visitors.

Other major tourism markets for January 2015 were Canada (17,922 arrivals), Singapore (12,995 arrivals), United Kingdom (11,967 arrivals), and Taiwan (11,804 arrivals).(PNA)

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