A total of 19 new international direct flight routes were launched in 2025, linking the country’s major gateways to major cities across the globe, as the Department of Tourism (DOT) recorded a total of 5,865,319 foreign visitor arrivals last year despite severe challenges.
In a report released today, January 20, 2026, it showed that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in 2025 as captured through the eTravel system of the Department of Information, and Communications Technology was slightly lower than the 5.9 million registered in 2024 and still below the 8.4 million targeted tourist arrivals for 2025.
However, the DOT noted of higher arrivals figure of 5,940,975 based on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) record, which reflected cruise passengers and visitor categories not consistently or not fully captured in eTravel. Based on the BI-recorded arrivals, the DOT estimated tourism expenditures to have reached PHP694 billion.
When combined with 543,085 returning Overseas Filipinos, DOT said total foreign visitor arrivals reached 6,484,060 in 2025.
Nonetheless, the DOT said that tourism figure was achieved despite global and domestic headwinds, including 34 travel alerts issued by key tourism markets and severe fiscal constraints of the agency.
The DOT also cited the launch last year of 19 new international direct routes such as Manila, Cebu, Clark, Iloilo, and Kalibo to major cities across Asia, Oceania, North America, and Eastern Europe.
The country also received 136 cruise calls in 2025, with 56,040 onboard passengers, including 15,071 crew members.
The DOT also emphasized that tourism performance should be viewed beyond arrivals alone, citing strong domestic travel, value creation, and employment generation as key indicators of sectoral health.
Using 2025 arrivals as reference, the Preliminary Estimated International Visitor Expenditure was at PHP694 billion based on BI-recorded arrivals. These figures are preliminary and subject to refinement, consistent with the official release by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) expected by the second quarter of this year.
Guided by the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2023–2028, the DOT remains focused on improving connectivity, enhancing safety, strengthening workforce skills, and elevating service standards to ensure that Philippine tourism continues to be competitive, inclusive, and resilient.
