South Korea is no longer the Philippines’ top tourism source market, with the United States stealing top spot for the first five months of 2026.
According to data released by the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Philippines has welcomed 531,589 arrivals from the US since the start of the year compared with 501,789 from South Korea. While US arrivals have now exceeded those from Korea for three straight months, this is the first time it has taken top spot for the full year combined.
Visitation from Korea has been on the decline since the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Manila warned Korean nationals about a worsening crime situation in the Philippines following a series of incidents involving Korean citizens, including robberies, kidnappings, and homicides. In May 2025, the embassy advised Koreans to limit unnecessary movements, especially late at night, and to exercise heightened caution.
Arrivals from Korea subsequently fell 18.5% to 1,346,301 in 2025 although it remained the Philippines’ top tourism source market.
That is no longer the case, with Korean arrivals falling from a high of 149,964 in January to 131,535 in February, 91,525 in March, 67,803 in April and 60,962 in May. By contrast, there were 98,182 arrivals from the United States in May.
On a more positive note, arrivals from mainland China have grown 62.8% so far this year to 187,478 – pushing it back into fourth spot on the list of top source markets.
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.
The figures also reflect how the DOT reports inbound tourism arrivals, which as of March have been based on residency rather than the citizenship criteria adopted previously.
Total visitor arrivals to the Philippines are up 7.51% year-on-year between January and May to 2,741,117.
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