New PH Tourism Record

Philippines breaks tourism record in 2018


Philippine Daily Inquirer|AFP
24 January 2019

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines welcomed a record 7.1 million tourists to its beaches and dive spots in 2018, despite its most famous resort Boracay being shut half the year to recover, authorities said Thursday.

Tourists relax along a beach on Boracay Island in Malay town, Aklan province, central Philippines on April 7, 2018.  (Photo by AFP)

The archipelago nation of over 7,000 islands saw the number of visitors jump by nearly eight percent over the previous year, with South Koreans leading the way as its top tourists.

This growth came without much help from Boracay, which was closed for clean up from April to October after President Rodrigo Duterte branded it a “cesspool” fouled by reckless development.

Before the closure, the tiny island’s white sand beaches and turquoise waters were seeing some two million sun worshippers a year.

“The challenging act of closing down Boracay… the country’s top sun-and-beach destination has evidently become a blessing in disguise,” said Philippine tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

Other spots like natural paradise Palawan and beach destination Siargao Island saw a jump in foreign tourists during the closure.

While South Korean led the pack with 1.6 million tourists, Chinese arrivals jumped by nearly 30 percent over 2017 to hit 1.3 million, the department of tourism said.

Americans visitors were at one million.

In a statement, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said the 7,127,168 foreign visitors in 2018 was a 7.65 percent increase from the 6,620,908 tourist arrivals recorded in 2017.

“We are now in a time in need of vigilance – a dedication to the principle of a sustainable and inclusive tourism industry,” Puyat said. — with reports from Christia Marie Ramos, INQUIRER.net  /je/kga

One million Chinese tourists flock PH

Over 1 mln Chinese tourists visit Philippines in first 10 months of 2018 


Xinhua News
20 December 2018

MANILA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 1.06 million Chinese tourists visited the Philippines in the first 10 months of this year, making China the Philippines' second largest source market of foreign tourists, government data showed on Thursday.

The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) said in a report that Chinese tourists arrivals from January to October 2018 accounted for 18.02 percent of the total foreign tourists that visited this archipelagic country.

DOT data showed that only 810,807 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines from January to October 2017.

From January to October of this year, the report said that around 5.82 million international tourists visited the Philippines.

The DOT said South Korean nationals ranked the first in the number of tourist arrivals in the country from January to October with 1.29 million or 22.04 percent of the total arrivals. The United States came third with 850,735 tourist arrivals from January to October 2018 followed by Japan 530,228 arrivals.

Tourism has now become one of the most critical support industries of the Philippines, and it is one of the sectors that has benefitted with Philippines' renewed relationship with China. A growing Chinese tourist arrival was noted for the past three years.

From 490,000 in 2015 and 675,000 Chinese tourists in 2016, the number posted a significant increase in 2017 with 968,000 tourist arrivals.

The Philippines' target for 2018 is to bring in 1.5 million tourists from China.

New Oxford English words

New Philippine English words in Oxford English dictionary give us food for thought

From bagoong to carinderia, Philippine English words related to food recall the country’s diverse cultural, and culinary, heritage

By Lisa Lim

South China Morning Post

28 Oct 2018

A carinderia in the Philippines. Picture: Alamy

Many in Hong Kong have been belatedly celebrating the September 2017 inclusion of Hong Kong English expression “add oil!” in the Oxford English Dictionary. The most recent update, released this month, includes 1,400 entries that hold novel lessons, exemplified by the Philippine English words.

The etymologies of these words span several languages, reflecting the diversity of cultures in the Philippines. Some of the words originate, expectedly, in Tagalog, a major indigenous language and the basis of the national language, Filipino: one example is “bagoong” (a fermented or salted fish paste).

Others come, also predictably, from Spanish, a legacy of 333 years of colonisation. The deep-fried pastry-covered fruit “turon”, from the Spanish almond-and-honey nougat called turrón, entered Philippine English via Tagalog.

Other words reflect less-considered but long-standing communities. “Bihon” (“noodles”), which entered English from the Tagalog “bihon”, is derived from the Hokkien “bí-hún” (“rice flour”, “rice noodles”). Similarly, the Tagalog “pancit” (“noodles”) in panciteria – an inexpensive restaurant typically serving noodle dishes – is ultimately from the Hokkien “piān-ê-sit” (“convenience food”), narrowing to mean “noodles” later.

These words testify to the Chinese communities’ significance, specifically those from Fujian province, who comprised most Chinese settlers in the 1800s, and Chinese hawkers catering to colonial Spanish Philippines working women.

Panciteria, with the Spanish suffix -tería (“a place where something is done”) – as in “cafeteria” – demonstrates a multi­lingual blend. So does “carinderia”, a roadside cooked-food stall, where the Tagalog “kari” derives from the Tamil “ka ṟ i ” (“curry”), recalling the Philippines’ wide-ranging South Asian presence: from pre-Hispanic Hindu kingdoms; Gujarati merchants in the 17th-century; and sepoy troops arriving during the British occupation of Manila (1762-64); to Indian businessmen of the 1930s and 40s.

A simple pancit dish of fried noodles.

These words were brought to the OED editors’ attention by Philippine English speakers through a crowdsourcing initia­tive. This underscores the point of dictionaries: not to pres­crip­tively instruct correctness, but represent actual usage in language varieties, with words being included once a commu­nity of speakers demonstrates widespread, systematic use.