Foreign tourist arrivals to the Philippines dipped 3.1 percent in August to 457,438, weighed down by a sharp decline in visitors from South Korea, according to the latest data from the Department of Tourism (DOT).
South Korean arrivals, long the country’s top tourism market, plunged 18 percent year-on-year to 118,681 amid ongoing political tensions in East Asia. The drop offset gains from other key markets, including the United States (up 2.3 percent to 58,597), Japan (up 17 percent to 55,104), Australia (up 5.2 percent to 17,225), and China (up 3.6 percent to 22,068).
For the January–August period, total foreign arrivals fell 1.6 percent to 3.96 million from 4.03 million in the same period last year. The decline was largely driven by double-digit contractions in South Korean and Chinese visitor numbers.
Arrivals from South Korea dropped 19 percent to 877,690, while Chinese tourists fell 24 percent to 182,228. Meanwhile, visitors from the US increased 8.2 percent to 689,981; Japan rose 19 percent to 309,067; and Australia climbed 17 percent to 195,461.
Despite the international slowdown, Philippine tourism remains buoyed by its strong domestic base. In 2024, tourism generated P3.86 trillion in internal expenditures, contributing 8.9 percent to the economy. Of this, a record-breaking P700 billion came from inbound tourism.
Domestic travel surged to 134 million trips, generating P3.16 trillion in spending—making the Philippines the regional leader in domestic tourism, accounting for over one-third of Southeast Asia’s total. The sector also employed 6.75 million Filipinos, or 13 percent of the national workforce.
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