Given the fact that the Philippines has been having trouble attracting foreign tourists and their money, it has been confirmed that the tourism industry’s contribution to the national economy in 2025 fell down to a 3-year low, according to a news report by BusinessWorld. For insight, the Philippines attracted 5.94 million foreign tourists in 2025 while Indonesia attracted 15.39 million, Vietnam attracted a record-high 21.2 million and Thailand attracted almost 33 million.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news report of BusinessWorld. Some parts in boldface…
THE TOURISM industry’s contribution to the Philippine economy fell to its lowest level in three years in 2025, weighed down by weaker tourism spending by foreign visitors, according to data from the statistics agency.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed tourism’s direct gross value added (TDGVA) accounted for 8.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, down from 8.7% of GDP in 2024.
This was tourism’s lowest contribution to the national output in at least three years or since 2022 when it contributed 6.3% to the country’s GDP.
The country’s TDGVA was estimated at P2.27 trillion last year, down by 1.4% from the revised P2.3 trillion in 2024.
The TDGVA measures the value generated from various tourism-related activities and is based on the results of the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts report, which the PSA compiles from the Department of Tourism.
Tourism Congress of the Philippines President James M. Montenegro said the drop reflected external pressures, structural constraints and a weaker recovery in international tourism relative to the rest of the Philippine economy.
“While domestic tourism remained resilient, inbound tourism weakened significantly in 2025, which pulled down overall tourism value creation,” Mr. Montenegro said in a Viber message.
He said a major factor was the slower-than-expected recovery of inbound tourism from key Asian markets such as China and India even after the Philippine government eased visa requirement for Chinese and Indian nationals.
Mr. Montenegro said another challenge is the Philippine tourism industry’s ability to remain competitive in attracting foreign tourists. He said the Philippines should prioritize making key destinations more accessible to major regional markets.
“Many neighboring countries accelerated aggressive tourism recovery programs, including visa-free access, expanded airline incentives, stronger destination marketing, and airport infrastructure improvements. The Philippines continued to face challenges in air connectivity, airport capacity, inter-island transport efficiency, and tourist friction points,” Mr. Montenegro said.
He said that while the Philippines’ tourism sector has one of the highest contributions to GDP in Southeast Asia, it continues to lag behind regional peers in attracting tourists.
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Were you surprised that the Philippines remained weak on attracting foreign tourists even though some reforms were implemented? Do you think the local tourism authorities should focus more on domestic tourism which itself remains strong and growing? What are the biggest hassles that tourists experience here in the Philippines when it comes to traveling by air, sea and land today?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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