been recognized by UNESCO through its 4 different lists (UNESCO World Heritage List, UNESCO Memory of the World Register, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Registry). History Tourism in the Philippines traces its origins during the ancient times when the first set of people chose to migrate through land bridges, followed by the other sets of migrations from the Malayan archipelago in the south and Taiwan in the north. Trade also became part of the tourism as Arabs, Indians, Japanese, Chinese, Malays, and other ethnic groups in mainland Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Ryukyu traded goods with the natives. When the islands became part of the territory of Spain, an influx of Spanish people migrated into the country, though still few compared to the Spanish migrations in South America as the Philippines was farther from Spain. The tourism industry first truly flourished during the late 19th to early 20th century due to the influx of immigrants from Europe and the United States. It was listed as one of the best countries to visit in Asia aside from Hong Kong and Japan, earning the nickname "Pearl of the Orient Seas". The tourism declined during and after the World War II, leaving the country with a completely devastated economy, and a landscape filled with destroyed heritage towns. The second wave of tourist influx flourished in the 1950s but declined drastically during the dictatorship era. After the People Power Revolution, the tourism industry continued to decline due to the domino effect caused by the Marcos dictatorship. The industry only managed to cope in 1991 and 1992, where 1.2 million tourists visited the Philippines. It afterwards waned again after a decade due to corrupt practices in government. The tourism industry flourished again at the early part of the 2010s under the "It's More Fun in the Philippines" slogan, which was regarded as an international success. The country saw an influx of foreign tourists, with the aid of social media and the creative tagline. Tourism reached its peak in 2015 with 5,360,682 foreign tourists arrivals recorded. The industry continued to grow in 2017, but the growth rate from Western tourists drastically decreased due to the drug war and the declaration of martial law in Mindanao. Nonetheless, the growth continued due to an influx of Asian and Russian tourists. 8,260,913 international visitors arrived from January to December 2019, up by 15.24% for the same