More than 800,000 tourists visited the Philippines during the first quarter of this year, says the Department of Tourism.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano revealed that based on the arrival and departure cards as well as shipping manifests, a total of 858,244 "arrivals" were posted from January to March 2008.

Durano added that said arrivals of the first-quarter group of tourists in the country have spent a total of US$ 1.022 billion.

According to him, the Koreans topped the arrivals in terms of number during

the first quarter, with 175,147 Koreans visiting the country, and accounting for 20.4 percent of the total tourist arrivals.The Scandinavian region, as well as Germany, Russia, Canada and Hong Kong, registered double-digit gains as shown by their increasing expenditure and length of stay over the previous years, he said.

Durano stressed that the Arroyo administration's efforts at promoting the Philippines as a tourism destination is paying off with tourists spending a total of some $1 billion in the country during the first quarter of 2008 alone.

"These positive results have laid down the groundwork for another promising year for the industry," Durano said, adding that "these developments further benefit a greater part of the nation as more quality jobs are generated and more wealth enters our country."

He said that to further increase the "tourist spend," the DOT will be launching a Shopping Festival in September, and a Second Home Destination Program in October.