Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez says that the number of tourist arrivals increased by 5.9% in March 2008. This brings the total of non-resident foreign arrivals to an 8% increase for the first three months of this year. The statistics indicate that US and Canadian arrivals increased by 9% and 7.4%. Other source markets registering increases are the UK, Belgium and Spain, with arrivals up by 9.2%, 15.1% and 2.13%. Russian, Mexican, Ecuadorian and Peruvian arrivals increased by 12.6%, 12.6%, 10.3% and 27%. According to figures provided by Jimenez, 309,075 tourists arrived in March, and in all 1,314,313 tourists arrived during the first three months of the year. This is an absolute increase of 82,391 tourists.