PH Is Top Source Market for Travel Within Southeast Asia

New data from Amadeus and UN Tourism reveal that the Philippines has become the second-largest source of tourists in Southeast Asia, trailing only South Korea. This was presented in a recent webinar, Travel Insights 2025 and Travel Trends 2026 on Asia Pacific, with ForwardKeys Director for Intelligence and Marketing Olivier Ponti saying that the region "attracts a mix of long-haul interest and solid intra-Asia demand."

Between November 2024 and October 2025, the Philippines moved from 10th to 9th in global search momentum, signaling a permanent increase in outbound travel.

According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), 6.25 million people traveled out of the Philippines from January to October 2025—an 11.6 percent increase over the previous year. Notably, more Filipinos left the country (6.16 million) than foreign tourists arrived (4.77 million) during that same window.

Top 10 Destinations for Filipinos (Jan–Oct 2025):

• Hong Kong: 766,869 travelers

• Japan: 661,296

• Singapore: 600,723

• Taiwan: 454,487

• Thailand: 438,362

• UAE: 414,517

• Saudi Arabia: 368,017

• Vietnam: 308,679

• USA: 298,239

• South Korea: 190,435

Travel in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region remains popular because it is generally cheaper than the rest of the world, though pricing varies wildly by destination.

• Japan: Rates are volatile. A room that cost $260 in late 2024 peaked at $350 in April 2025 before dropping back to $290 by October.

• Thailand: Prices remained stable, fluctuating between $150 and $200 per night.

• Aviation: Air traffic in the region grew by 5.8% this year. Airlines are currently increasing flight capacity through March 2026 to meet the demand.

Ponti added about the growth in aviation: “[This] suggests a significant increase in travel demand across a wide diversity of tourist profiles, whether they stay in hotels or in other forms of accommodation. Unsurprisingly, we can also see a spike towards the end of December to the beginning of January, which suggests that at the end of the year, celebrations are going to keep travel professionals very busy.”

With high search volume and increasing flight capacity, the outbound trend is expected to grow through 2026.

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