Baguio: With efforts underway to improve services and elevate tourism-related establishments in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), more foreign tourists are visiting the area, according to an official of the Department of Tourism (DOT-CAR). 'While the numbers are not so significant, we are glad that we are picking up and we are getting a share of the foreign tourist arrivals,' DOT-CAR Director Jovita Ganongan said in an interview on Tuesday.
According to Philippines News Agency, the latest DOT-CAR data indicated an upward trend in foreign tourists alone from 2021 to 2024, with a 2.32 percent increase. In 2021, despite strict coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) safety protocols, a total of 372 foreign tourists arrived in the region, increasing to 9,169 in 2022; 29,821 in 2023; and 44,734 in 2024. Pre-pandemic data also showed the region received 85,066 in 2019 and 12,335 in 2020.
Ganongan mentioned they are still waiting for the 2025 data from the local government units in the region, which must obtain the numbers from accommodation establishments and destinations. Meanwhile, the same DOT-CAR showed that French nationals led the largest number of tourists from 2021 to 2024, followed by Americans, Germans, Koreans, Chinese, British, Japanese, Canadians, Australians, and Israelis.
Ganongan highlighted the interest of international travelers in places that offer sustainability activities and programs benefitting the community, alongside the integration of culture and the people. She added the region is also trying to position itself as a mountain tourism destination, emphasizing that they are on the right track with their initiatives in partnership with local government units and communities.
She underscored the importance of community participation, given that the region is inhabited by about 95 percent indigenous peoples. The region's overall tourist arrivals, including foreign, domestic, and 'balikbayans' (returning or vacationing Filipinos), also showed an upward trend, rising from 335,028 in 2020 to 418,093 in 2021; 1.28 million in 2022; more than 1.68 million in 2023; and 1.97 million in 2024.
