These Are the Top Visitors to the Philippines by Nationality in 2023
The Philippines welcomed 5.45 million tourists to the country in 2023, up from the initial target of 4.8 million and a 105 percent increase compared to 2022, which was at 2.65 million, according to the Department of Tourism. It’s not quite at the levels pre-pandemic (66 percent of 2019’s 8.3 million), but the DOT says we’re on the right track.
International tourism receipts surged to P482.54 billion for the year, which is 125 percent versus P214.58 billion collected in 2022 and slightly ahead of the P482.15 billion recorded in 2019.
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As for the top foreign tourists, South Koreans took the top spot with over 1.43 million arrivals or 26.41 percent of overall arrivals. The United States is a far second with 903,299 tourists (16.57 percent) visiting the country; followed by Japan with 305,580 (5.61 percent), Australia with 266,551 (4.89 percent), and China with 263,836 (4.84 percent).
At sixth to 10th places were Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Why do South Koreans love visiting the Philippines so much? Studies show our neighbors in the north are attracted by the relatively affordable cost of living, widespread use of the English language, the tropical weather, as well as business opportunities in the country.
The country was also cited by several tourism award-giving bodies over the past year, including citations for World’s Leading Dive Destination, World’s Leading Beach Destination, the World’s Leading City Destination for Manila as well as Asia’s Best Cruise Destination, and Asia’s Leading Dive Destination at the World Travel Awards (WTA) received by the country as 2023, as well as a Global Tourism Resilience Award for demonstrating “global leadership, pioneering vision, and innovation to overcome critical challenges and adversity.”
According to the DOT, the Philippines bagged as many as 15 additional travel and tourism honors from international award-giving bodies in the categories including diving, beach, cruise, culinary, retirement, and Muslim-friendly tourism.
In 2024, the DOT’s target is 7.7 million international visitor arrivals.
