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

As of Monday, Frasco said the Southeast Asian country has welcomed 4,822,530 international visitor arrivals, raking in 404 billion pesos ($7.296 billion), reports Xinhua news agency.

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

South Korea remains the country's top source of foreign arrivals, accounting for 26.37 per cent of the total, followed by the US (16.53 per cent), Japan (5.66 per cent), and China (5.02 per cent), 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 per cent of the country's gross domestic product in 2022, with at least 2.65 million inbound foreign visitors.