The Philippines, is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The Philippines is a country that contains a myriad of different amalgated cultures and influences. The superficial face of modern Filipino culture has many more influences from the Western world than other nearby Asian cultures. Most of these influences are a product of previous colonization and derived mainly from the cultures of Spain and the United States, with a secondary influence from Latin American cultures who were under Spain during the same period the Philippines was. Despite the visual Western and Hispanic influences, the older Asian aspects of Filipino culture are seen through the strength of filial piety, family and its influence, empahasis on the group before the individual, the concept of maintaining social harmony, ancient cultural beliefs and mythology, the complexities of local psychology (such as hiya or shame and the concept of saving face), and accepted social etiquette between other Filipinos. Within Asia, this Western-Eastern juxtaposition is most seen in the Philippines, and continues to fascinate many a guest to the country.

Signs of a faster growth appeared in the early 1990s. About 1.2 million tourists visited the Philippines in 1992, which was a record high in the number of tourist visits since 1989. The tourism growth of the year of 1992 gave the Department of Tourism a reason to forecast a positive outlook for the future years.[citation needed]
In 2000, the Philippines' tourist arrivals totaled 2.2 million. In 2003 it totaled 2,838,000, a growth of almost 29%, and it is expected to grow as much as 3.4 million in 2007. In the first quarter of 2007, the tourist arrival in the Philippines grew as much as 20% in same period last year. In the period of January to September 2009 alone, the government recorded 5.2 million tourists visiting the country

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