Malaysian Visitors To The Philippines On The Rise

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 (Bernama) -- There is an increasing trend among Malaysians to make the Philippines their destination for vacation. According to the Philippines Ambassador to Malaysia, J. Eduardo Malaya, as of October 2012, tourist arrivals from Malaysia went up by 21.92 per cent to 91,230 and was expected to surpass the total 2011 tourist arrivals of 97,154. He said in a statement today that the Philippine government expected such significant growth to continue and also see more foreign tourists going to Davao, Siargao and other destinations in Mindanao. "This is in the light of the signing of the Framework Agreement between the Philippines Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "This may unlock the terrific tourism potentials of the region," Malaya said. Malaya said with this surge, Malaysia has become the 10th biggest market for Philippine tourism, up from 11th place last year. "Other countries in the top 10 sources of tourist arrivals to the Philippines as of October 2012 are South Korea (832,437), the United States (534,899), Japan (341,676), China (215,814), Taiwan (188,862), Australia (147,237), Singapore (111,200), Hong Kong (98,967) and Canada (96,089)," he added. Malaya said the increase was credited to the increased air connectivity between the Philippines and Malaysia with the launch of flights of two new airlines and the opening of another route by a third airline. AirAsia Philippines and AirPhil Express launched their Kuala Lumpur-Clark and Kuala Lumpur-Manila flights in June this year, respectively, while Cebu Pacific Airlines launched its Kuala Lumpur-Cebu route this month, he added. -- BERNAMA