Strong gains from China and North America helped propel international visitor arrivals to the Philippines in the first five months of 2026, offsetting a decline from South Korea and keeping the country’s tourism recovery on track.
Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed total visitor arrivals reached 2.74 million from January to May, up 7.5 percent from 2.55 million in the same period last year.
The increase was driven primarily by foreign tourists, whose arrivals climbed 8.34 percent to 2.53 million from 2.33 million a year earlier.
Overseas Filipino arrivals, meanwhile, slipped 1.44 percent to 214,488.
The US remained the Philippines’ largest source market, with arrivals rising 7 percent to 531,859. The strong performance of the US market helped cushion the impact of weaker arrivals from South Korea, which has long been the country’s biggest tourism source in Asia.
South Korean arrivals fell 9.6 percent to 501,789 from 554,855 a year earlier, reflecting softer outbound travel demand and intensifying competition from other regional destinations. Despite the decline, South Korea remained the second-largest source of visitors to the Philippines.
Japan continued to deliver steady growth, with arrivals increasing 6.9 percent to 226,494.
The standout performer, however, was China. Visitor arrivals from the world’s second-largest economy surged 62.8 percent to 187,478 from 115,163 a year ago, highlighting the rapid rebound in bilateral travel following visa facilitation measures and expanded flight connectivity.
Canada rounded out the top five source markets, posting a robust 17.1-percent increase to 166,178 arrivals.
The latest data suggest that the Philippines’ tourism recovery is becoming more diversified, reducing its historical dependence on a single source market. While the slowdown in South Korean arrivals remains a concern for tourism stakeholders, accelerating growth from China, the United States, Canada, and Japan is helping sustain overall momentum.
The figures also underscore the importance of continued air connectivity expansion and market diversification efforts as the country seeks to strengthen visitor arrivals and tourism revenues in an increasingly competitive regional landscape.
