The Philippines welcomed a total of 6,484,060 visitor arrivals in 2025, representing a slight 0.76% increase over 2024 arrival figures according to the Department of Tourism. The total included 5,940,975 foreign visitors – up 0.27% year-on-year following a tourism surge in December – while overseas Filipinos returning numbered 543,085, up 6.41%.
Foreign arrivals had been down by more 3% through the first 11 months of 2025 before 625,484 entered in December. This was not only the highest monthly tally since January but also 20.2% higher than the 520,549 foreign arrivals recorded in December 2024.
Despite falling by 18.49%, South Korea remained the Philippines’ number one source tourism market in 2025 with 1,346,301 arrivals including 120,069 in December, down 10.6% versus the same month in 2024.
China, meanwhile, contributed 237,101 arrivals for the year, down 14.27%. There were 15,340 arrivals from China in December, slightly down on the same time last year. China slipped from being the fourth largest source market in 2024 to sixth in 2025 behind South Korea, the USA, Japan, Australia and Canada.
Arrivals from all of those jurisdictions – other than South Korea and China – exhibited strong growth in 2025.
The Philippines’ Department of Tourism last week outlined its intention to focus marketing efforts on the United States, South Korea, Canada, China, India and the Middle East this year, with a specific goal of fully recovering the vital South Korean market.
The China market, meanwhile, is expected to benefit from the recent decision to offer visa-free entry, with analysts noting that this should also help boost gaming revenues at the nation’s integrated resorts.
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