Philippine gov't asks nationals to help tourist arrivals

The Philippine government urged on Saturday the Filipinos to cooperate with the Aquino administration in order to sustain increasing tourist arrivals in the country. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte hailed the over 2.14 million tourist arrivals that the country posted during the first half of this year. "We continue to ask for your cooperation to show to our friends outside that it's really, it's truly more fun in the Philippines," she said in an interview over state-run radio station. Government statistic data shows that the tourist arrivals from January to June this year was 2.14 million, 11 percent higher than the 1.9 million visitors during the same period of 2011. The local tourism industry targets 4.6 million tourists by the end of this year. The government said that if the quota for 2012 is reached, this would mean additional 1.5 million tourists, higher than the record of the previous government. The Department of Tourism of Philippines targets to increase the annual tourist arrivals in the country to 10 million by 2016.