Tourist arrivals Philippines 2023, by country of residence
South Korea was the biggest market for international tourists arriving in the Philippines in 2023, with about 1.44 million travelers. Tourists from the United States came in second, reaching roughly 900,000.
Post-pandemic tourism recovery
The number of tourist arrivals significantly shows signs of recovery in 2023, at 5.5 million, after the disruptions caused by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During the pandemic, foreign tourist arrivals dropped to merely 1.5 million people from more than eight million in the previous year. Surprisingly, this figure was even lower in 2021, which was just 0.16 million tourists. The tourism department expects to receive 7.7 million international visitors by 2024.
The state of domestic travel
While foreign tourist arrivals struggled during the pandemic, domestic tourism in the Philippines experienced fewer setbacks. In 2022 alone, about 40 million overnight travelers were recorded, the majority of whom were domestic travelers. Cebu Pacific carried the highest number of domestic passengers in 2023, with PAL Express carrying just about half of the former's passenger volume.
