Tourism’s total revenue in January 2025 exceeded its pre-pandemic levels at P65.3 billion, up 52 percent from P43 billion in January 2019, indicating the industry is bouncing back while also evolving and expanding, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Thursday.
In a statement, the DOT said the January revenue figure represented a 78.8 percent increase from P36.51 billion generated in January 2024.
Foreign visitor arrivals in January stood at 626,900, higher by 9 percent from 574,439 in the same month in 2024.
“The surge of income for Philippine tourism is a sign that the industry is not only bouncing back from the pandemic but is also evolving and expanding, contributing significantly to the country’s economic stability and growth,” DOT Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco said.
Frasco said the Philippines is able to offer a more diverse array of tourism products and more destinations: beach, leisure, adventure, health and wellness, gastronomy, cruise, and other such tourism activities.
The DOT said it recorded Philippine tourism revenues based on visitor sample surveys, records from the previous arrival/departure cards, shipping manifests and the current eTravel system.
Frasco also mentioned the Philippines achieved an all-time high tourism revenue of about P760 billion in 2024.
In January to February, for which data on visitor arrivals are available, over a quarter or 25.31 percent of total arrivals came from South Korea, with 295,611 tourists, based on DOT data as of March 1, 2025.
South Korea has been the Philippines’ top source of tourists since 2023, which is expected to rise further on the appointment of South Korean star Seo In-Guk as “celebrity tourism ambassador for the Philippines” in February this year.
Following South Korea was the United States, with 229,836 visitors, Japan with 83,208, Canada with 65,145 and Australia with 61,564.
The Philippines also welcomed 53,545 tourists from China; 41,388 from Taiwan; 34,451 from the United Kingdom; 29,352 from Singapore and 21,252 from France.
