MANILA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- More than 5 million foreign tourists have visited the Philippines since January this year, exceeding the country's 4.8 million international arrival target for 2023, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, international tourist arrivals have been logged at 5,067,752, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said.

"This has contributed no less than nearly 440 billion pesos (roughly 7.9 billion U.S. dollars) to the Philippine economy," Frasco said during a tourism event speech.

Frasco said the tourism industry created over 5.35 million jobs, with 11 in every 100 Filipinos employed in tourism-related jobs.

She expressed confidence that foreign tourist arrivals will rise amid the upcoming Christmas holidays.

Frasco said the tourism department will focus on improving and enhancing the overall tourism experience around the country, vowing to build more tourist rest areas across the country.

Frasco said the Philippines' goal for 2024 is 7.7 million foreign tourist arrivals.

DOT data showed that 2.65 million international travelers visited the Philippines in 2022, raking in 208.96 billion pesos (roughly 3.8 billion dollars) in revenue.