The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday, Dec. 11, said it is expecting 1.5 million arrivals in the country this December.

In a press release, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the travel trends showed a major increase in travelers in 2023.

Around one million arrivals per month were recorded during the second quarter of the year, far from the recorded 100,00 arrivals per month during the height of the pandemic.

According to the immigration chief, the BI recorded a total of 1,160,699 arriving passengers in November, almost half of whom are foreign nationals.

The immigration bureau said it had recorded 1.7 million arrivals in December, before the pandemic, where 79% more passengers arrived this year than there were in 2022.