tourists-rizal-park — A group of Chinese tourists pose for pictures in front of the monument of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal at a Manila park. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Visitors from South Korea, the United States and China comprised the biggest chunk of the almost 4 million tourist arrivals in the country from January to October last year, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT).

The DOT said a total of 3,867,386 tourists visited the country during the first 10 months of 2013, an 11.19-percent increase over 2012 arrivals for the same period, recorded at 3,478,285 visitors.

The 10-month figure represented 70.32 percent of the targeted 5.5 million arrivals for 2013, the DOT said.

February registered the highest growth of 15.52 percent while the month of January recorded the biggest arrivals at 436,079 tourists, the tourism agency added.

Visitors from South Korea led all other markets, as it contributed the biggest arrivals at 990,486. Tourists from the United States came next, with 550,991 visitors, followed by the Chinese market, with 365,905 visitors.

Rounding up the Top 10 list of tourist arrivals are Japan, with 360,721; Australia, with 165,282; Singapore, with 142,970; Taiwan, with 120,587; Hong Kong, with 107,312; Canada, with 100,274, and the United Kingdom, with 96,648 arrivals.

The DOT also reported significant gains in the following markets: Russian Federation (plus 27.63 percent), with 25,981 arrivals; Indonesia (plus 25.05 percent), with 37,740 arrivals; Saudi Arabia (plus 28.97 percent), with 33,807 arrivals; France (plus 16.69 percent), with 31,802 arrivals; Thailand (plus 18.64 percent), with 39,847 arrivals, and India (plus 12.47 percent), with 42,860 arrivals.