The Philippines received about 5.44 million tourist arrivals for the entire length of 2024, showing an increase of 8.7 percent from the end of 2023.
According to a report issued by the country's Department of Tourism (DOT), foreign arrivals accounted for 91.4 percent of the total arrivals, including those classified as overseas Filipinos.
In total terms, the country recorded just 5.95 million arrivals in the 12 months to Dec. 31, including 510,383 entries by overseas Filipinos.
The latter segment, comprised of Philippine passport holders who are permanently residing abroad, rose 14.2 percent from a year earlier.
The Philippine government sought to attract about 7.7 million foreign visitors for 2024, driven by optimism after 2023 arrivals exceeded forecasts.
Where are the tourists from?
South Korea was the Philippines' leading source market, with about 1.57 million arrivals in 2024, accounting for 26.4 percent of all arrivals and up 8.2 percent from 2023.
The United States was the country's second-largest source market, clocking in 947,891 arrivals, about 15.9 percent of the total, up 4.9 percent from the previous year.
Japan came in third with 388,316 arrivals, about 6.5 percent of all visitors, up 27.1 percent from 2023.
China delivered about 312,222 visitors between January and December, representing about 5.3 percent of all arrivals, up 18.3 percent from 2023.