Philippines launches tourist call center, welcomes 4 million visitors

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Tourism launched its "First-ever" Tourist Assistance Call Center, days after the Philippines surpassed the 4-million mark for international arrivals. "Notably, the call center will be handled not by artificial intelligence, but by living, breathing Filipinos who share with us the vision of enhancing the tourism experience in the country," Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said on Monday, October 2. Tourists can reach the Tourist Assistance Call Center by calling 151-TOUR for landline or +63995-835-5155 for mobile. Currently, there are eight dedicated call center agents from service provider Universal Access & Systems Solutions. According to Frasco, the launch of the call center will help the DOT to reach its goal of welcoming 4.8 million international arrivals in 2023. Just days ago on Friday, September 29, the DOT recorded more than 4 million international visitors in the Philippines so far in 2023. Visitors from China have also begun picking up in number, with more than 190,000 visiting the Philippines so far in 2023.