The number of visitor arrivals entering the Philippines fell by 0.51% during the first three months of 2025, with visitation from the key markets of South Korea and China suffering significant declines.
According to information from the Department of Tourism (DOT), total visitor arrivals in 1Q25 reached 1,654,079 of which foreign tourists comprised 1,530,319 – down 2.42%. Overseas Filipino visitors grew by 31.3% to 123,760.
The decline in foreign tourists was largely driven by a 13.9% fall in arrivals from South Korea – the Philippines’ top source tourist market – to 395,059. Arrivals from China also continued their recent nosedive, down 33.7% to 72,665, placing it sixth on the list of top Philippines source markets.
Of other key markets, arrivals from the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada and Singapore all showed some year-on-year growth while those from Taiwan, the UK and Germany suffered declines.
The DOT figures also reveal March as the slowest month of the year so far, with a total of 486,171 visitor arrivals compared with 626,900 in January and 541,008 in February.