South Korea continues to send more visitors to the Philippines than any other country, the Bureau of Immigration said Friday, as overall arrival figures climbed even during what officials describe as a quieter stretch for tourism.
Speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval pointed to month-on-month comparisons showing incremental gains. “For April last year, it was 1,337, now it is 1,358. May also increased from 1,299 to 1,309. So, this June, the number of travelers is also increasing,” she said.
The agency attributes the slower pace partly to the calendar. “We consider this to be a bit of a lean season because the long holidays are over,” Sandoval explained, noting that the arrival of the rainy season tends to dampen travel appetite.
Even so, the bureau anticipates the numbers will hold steady in the third quarter and rise again as the year draws to a close. “That’s our usual trend and we are monitoring them. So far it’s increasing,” she said.
After South Korea, the largest groups of foreign travelers came from the United States, Canada, Japan and China, according to BI figures.
The Department of Tourism, meanwhile, has set its sights on surpassing 6.4 million tourist arrivals in 2026 — a target above the 2025 figure — as part of efforts to keep international travel on an upward path following the pandemic.
