MAKATI CITY - International visitor arrivals to the Philippines reached 4.42 million in the first eight months of 2026, up 0.78% from a year earlier.
Department of Tourism data show 4,415,860 arrivals from January through Aug. 31, compared with 4,381,585 in the same period in 2025, an increase of 34,275.
The new total is higher than the 4.11 million arrivals DOT cited earlier in September because the latest count combines eTravel data with Bureau of Immigration records.
Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay had described the earlier eTravel-based figure as conservative because it did not fully capture returning overseas Filipinos reflected in immigration records.
The United States was the Philippines’ largest source market through August, with 926,575 arrivals, or 20.98% of the total. South Korea, the country’s leading market last year, ranked second with 744,732 arrivals, accounting for 16.86%.
DOT published the latest figures through its Philippine Tourism Data Dashboard, which provides historical visitor-arrival data dating to 2010, outbound travel statistics, tourism employment figures and Tourism Direct Gross Value Added data. Users can also download the datasets behind its charts.
The department targets between 6.4 million and 6.8 million international visitor arrivals for 2026, with seven million described as a stretch goal.
DOT is also seeking to expand the Philippines’ 14-day visa-free arrangement for Chinese nationals beyond Manila and Cebu to gateways in Clark, Caticlan, Bohol and Palawan. The current visa policy limits the privilege to arrivals through Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
Angara-Mathay said the proposed expansion still requires approval from other agencies. If secured, she said, it could mean “a lot more chartered flights from China and a lot more arrivals.”
