MANILA, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has exceeded its target of 4.8 million foreign tourist arrivals for 2023, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco said Wednesday.

As of Nov. 27, Frasco said the Southeast Asian country has welcomed 4,822,530 international visitor arrivals, raking in 404 billion pesos (7.296 billion U.S. dollars).

Frasco said 91.88 percent of the total arrivals were foreign visitors, while 8.12 percent were returning overseas Filipinos.

South Korea remains the country's top source of foreign arrivals, accounting for 26.37 percent of the total, followed by the United States (16.53 percent), Japan (5.66 percent), and China (5.02 percent), Frasco said.

Frasco said the tourism industry "is the second-highest driver of economic growth," as the industry has employed around 5.35 million Filipinos.

As a key economic driver in the Philippines, tourism contributed 6.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2022, with at least 2.65 million inbound foreign visitors. Enditem

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