MANILA, Philippines--A total of 111,000 students from South Korea came to the Philippines last year for English classes and other study tours, accounting for 17 percent of the 653,320 Korean arrivals, the Department of Tourism said.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said the number was expected to grow significantly this year, judging from "the quality and quantity" of inquiries the department received at the recent 26th Korea Student and Emigration Fair in Seoul.

Koreans have become the biggest group of visitors to the Philippines, surpassing Americans. The tourism department expects them to number a million by 2010 and account for one-fifth of its target of five million visitors a year.

"The Korean overseas learning sector accounts for around five million people, including those who want to acquire skills that will help them participate in the global economy," Durano said.

He said the Department of Tourism joined in the Korea Student and Emigration Fair to get a bigger share of that sector, partly by partnering with schools with English as Second Language, or ESL, programs.

He said most Korean students of English preferred schools in the cities of Baguio, Manila, Iloilo and Cebu and in the northern region of Cagayan Valley.

Some enroll in two-month ESL programs that coincide with their summer or winter breaks; others enter the regular course offerings of international schools and universities in the Philippines; and some want to learn English for use in particular fields, such as medicine and nursing.

There are also packages in which ESL is applied in golf, diving and other areas of interest for more specialized Korean groups.

Durano said the tourism and education sectors needed to further improve their facilities and services, such as discouraging fly-by-night operations and ensuring the safety of visitors.

From January to February, Korean visitors in the Philippines numbered 126,354, accounting for 22.1 percent of total arrivals and increasing by five percent year-on-year. Ronnel W. Domingo; edited by INQUIRER.net