South Korea remains the main tourist source market for the Philippines. In the first half of 2019 it supplied 1,113,274 visitors. China is a close runner-up with 1,038,409 visitors. The United States concludes the three largest source markets with 663,116 travellers. Japan with 382,634 and Taiwan with 192,195 made it up to the big-5. Nationals of Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Germany are also among the those who visit the Philippines in numbers.
It is worth mentioning that in 2018 travel and tourism was the Philippines' largest sector, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) report. Its share in the nation's gross domestic product reached 24.7 percent, its contribution to employment was 26.4 percent. Over the last 8 years, travel and tourism sector in the Philippines has experienced a very strong growth.
Besides DOT's efforts to promote tourism in the Philippines and its commitment to sustainable tourism principles, the results of the sector are attributed to the continuous rise in the number of middle-class households worldwide and solid growth in global consumer spending.
More Overseas Tourists Visit Philippines Jan–June 2019
News in Asia
Philippines report a 12.36 percent growth in number of overseas tourists during the first six months of 2019 compared to the previous year. Between January and June, the country welcomed 4,852,107 foreigner visitors.