Less tourists seen to visit Phl this year

BMI Country Risk & Industry Research slashed its projection for tourist arrivals in the Philippines this year to 6.6 million from the 8.21 million forecast it gave in January.

- KEISHA TA-ASAN

BMI's revised forecast for this year is also 14.2 percent lower than the baseline target of 7.7 million visitors set by the Department of Tourism (DOT).

However, despite the slight downgrade in forecast, BMI said international arrivals could still grow by 19.1 percent in 2024 from last year's 5.54 million. This will also be 81 percent of the 8.26 million arrivals recorded in 2019, right before COVID-19 hit.