The Philippines recorded 2.54 million international tourist arrivals in the first five months of 2025, though this significantly lags behind regional competitors like Thailand's 14.3 million, Vietnam's 9.2 million, Singapore's 7 million, and Indonesia's 5.63 million visitors during the same period.
South Korea remained the largest source market with 552,925 visitors despite a 19% year-on-year decline, followed by the United States with 442,756 visitors (9.67% increase), then Japan, China, and Australia as the top five source markets.
Safety concerns have impacted South Korean tourist numbers following several incidents involving Korean visitors, contributing to the overall slower growth compared to neighboring Southeast Asian destinations.
The Philippines, recognized as "Asia's Leading Beach Destination" at the 2024 World Travel Awards with over 36,000 kilometers of coastline, has set an ambitious target of 8.4 million foreign arrivals for 2025.
This represents a challenging 55% increase from the 5.4 million international visitors recorded in 2024, requiring significant acceleration in tourism recovery efforts to meet the Department of Tourism's annual projection.
