Invasion of hospitality giants

The Philippine travel and tourism sector continues to attract major hospitality brands. This is primarily due to the sector’s growth potential especially given the Marcos administration’s plans to rehabilitate and modernize airports across the country.

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International arrivals increased in 2024 although the total fi gure is lower than the government’s target. The Tourism department remains optimistic as it banks on the growth of traditional and nontraditional source markets to fi ll the huge void left by Chinese tourists.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that international arrivals reached 5.95 million in 2024, up 9.2% from the 5.45 million recorded in 2023 but unable to breach the government-projected 7.7 million arrivals. South Korea remained to be the country’s top source market with 1.6 million arrivals, followed by the United States, Japan, China and Australia. Despite lackluster arrival fi gures, the DOT reported that tourist receipts reached a recordhigh PHP760 billion (USD13.1 billion), up from PHP600 billion (USD10.3 billion) in 2019, which indicates that tourists are now spending more and staying longer. The Philippines ranked the highest in Southeast Asia with an average expenditure per arrival of USD2,073 (PHP122,000) for an average 11-night stay.