Newly published data from the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) shows that inbound tourism to the Philippines has risen 8.97% to 2,295,426 during the first four months of 2026 – boosted by a 61.7% increase in arrivals from mainland China.
IAG notes, however, that the improvement reflects a recent change to how the DOT reports inbound tourism arrivals, which as of March reflects residency rather than the citizenship criteria adopted previously. The residency criteria paints a much rosier picture than citizenship.
According to the new reporting system, China has moved back up to fourth spot on the Philippines’ list of source tourism markets with 150,708, including 36,331 in April.
Conversely, arrivals from South Korea are down 6.18% year-on-year during the first four months of 2026 to 440,827 and slipped to second spot in April behind the United States with just 67,803, by far its lowest of the year after contributing 149,964 arrivals in January, 131,535 in February and 91,525 in March.
The United States, Japan, Australia, Canada and Taiwan all booked strong year-on-year increases between January and April.
Maybank Securities said in a recent note that the improvement in visitor arrivals from China reflects early traction from policy measures such as visa-free entry and the rollout of e-visas.
RelatedPosts
