Visualizing Philippine Tourism: Trends on Tourists and Travel Destinations

By Bart Sakwerda, Design and Development by Joseph Ricafort

Seeing the Philippine Tourism Industry Using Data

There were around 5.5M tourists visiting the Philippines annually since 2014. Using the data from Department of Tourism, we were able to identify and visualize origin of tourist. We also learned which countries where most tourists were coming from.

Would the Philippines still be a worthy travel destination or a worthy to invest into? We visualized the current state of tourism in the Philippines using public available data from 2014 to 2018.

What To Expect?

If you have some plans visiting the Philippines as a tourists, you would be able to learn more about destinations you might have not known yet or hesitant to travel into.

If you plan to invest into the tourism market in the Philippines, you might be able to discover opportunities of the market in terms of tourist origins and potential travel destinations not everyone knows about.

There could be other discoveries you could uncover using the data visualizations we've designed and developed for you to explore further.

Which Countries Were The Tourists From?

World Map of Volume of Tourists' Country of Origin (2016)

NigeriaSouth AfricaCanadaMexicoUSAArgentinaBrazilColombiaPeruVenezuelaBruneiCambodiaIndonesiaLaosMalaysiaMyanmarSingaporeThailandVietnamChinaJapanKoreaTaiwanBahrainEgyptJordanKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnitedArabEmiratesBangladeshIndiaIranNepalPakistanSri LankaAustraliaGuamNauruNew ZealandPapua New GuineaPolandRussian FederationIsraelTurkeyDenmarkFinlandIrelandNorwaySwedenUnited KingdomGreeceItalyPortugalSpainAndorraAustriaBelgiumFranceGermanyLuxembourgNetherlandsSwitzerlandRegionAsiaEuropeAmericasAustralasia and the PacificAfricaMajority of the foreign tourists to the Philippines come from the neighboring Asian countries and the US.UK tends to have the most number of tourists from Europe coming to the Philippines.NigeriaSouth AfricaCanadaMexicoArgentinaBrazilColombiaPeruVenezuelaBruneiCambodiaIndonesiaLaosMalaysiaMyanmarSingaporeThailandVietnamPhilippinesChinaKoreaTaiwanBahrainEgyptJordanKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnitedArabEmiratesBangladeshIndiaIranNepalPakistanSri LankaAustraliaGuamNauruNew ZealandPapua New GuineaPolandRussiaIsraelTurkeyDenmarkFinlandIrelandNorwaySwedenUnited KingdomGreeceItalyPortugalSpainAndorraAustriaBelgiumFranceGermanyLuxembourgNetherlandsSwitzerlandMajority of the foreign tourists to the Philippines come from the neighboring Asian countries and the US.UK tends to have the most number of tourists from Europe visiting the Philippines. It is also the 7th most number of overall tourists in the Philippines.Japan1348109567RegionAsiaEuropeAmericasAustralasia & the PacificAfricannth RankUSA2Data source:Tourism Demand Statistics - Department of Tourism, Retrieved from www.tourism.gov.ph/tourism_dem_sup_pub.aspx, Accessed on October 7, 2019
6M4M2M0Tourist CountYear201420162012AsiaAustralia & The PacificAfricaEuropeAmericas

Trend of tourists per region 2014 - 2016

Almost 50% of the tourists to the Philippines, come from neighboring Asian coutries. Tourists from Africa are almost non-existent.

Philippines being an archipelago are mainly reached via air traffic. International ferry and cruise ship arrival numbers are presently insignificant compared to over 40 million international arrivals.

As self-reported by the airline passengers on the immigrations slips (country of origin, purpose of the visit) are the most reliable data regarding inbound tourism.

Timeline of Country of Origin of Tourists to the Philippines from January 2014 to December 2016

We tried to visualize the flow of tourists' and their country of origin. Using a bumpchart, we could see how the countries rank in terms of the volume of tourists coming from every country.

20142015201620172018AprilJulyOctoberAprilJulyOctoberAprilJulyOctoberAprilJulyOctoberAprilJulyOctoberKorea USAChinaJapanCanadaAustraliaSingaporeTaiwanMalaysiaHongkongUKKorea USAChinaJapanCanadaAustraliaTaiwanSingaporeMalaysiaGermanyFranceIndiaIndonesiaHongkongUKIndiaGermanyThailandFranceIndonesiaSaudi ArabiaVietnamNetherlandsGuamKorea USAChinaJapanCanadaAustraliaUKTaiwanSingaporeMalaysiaGermanyIndonesiaFranceThailandVietnamSaudi ArabiaNetherlandsGuamHongkongIndia1234567891011121314151617181920The highest number of tourist arrival was on January 2018 ever since 2014.Top 20 foreign tourists in the Philippines as of December 2018:The months of February and July tends to be the cyclic peak season for tourist arrivalsKorea has maintainted it’s top spot having the most number of foreign tourists in the Philippines. USA and China have been vying for the second spot since 2014.Data source:Tourism Demand Statistics - Department of Tourism, Retrieved from www.tourism.gov.ph/tourism_dem_sup_pub.aspx, Accessed on October 7, 2019

Top 10 tourists’ countries of origin as of December 2018:

  1. Korea
  2. USA
  3. China
  4. Japan
  5. Canada
  6. Australia
  7. United Kingdom
  8. Taiwan
  9. Singapore
  10. Malaysia

Below are some of the notable observations on the data:

  • *UK seems to have the most number of tourists coming from Europe.
  • July 2017 month in which there has been a dramatic rise in the volume from China. Top 5: South Korea, USA, China, Japan and Australia (countries with large population, developed economies)
  • Trailing behind are Canada, UK, Most of the significant number of foreign tourists to the Philippines were from East Asia (China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan) and USA. (preBrexit 2019-10).
  • Very little traffic from Africa and South America

Which Are The Most Popular Travel Destinations?

Comparison of the Volume between Domestic and Foreign Tourists in 2018

Total (Domestic + Foreign)Number of Tourists0.5M1.5M2.5MIsland GroupLuzonMindanaoVisayasnth RanknPuerto Princesa CityBaguio CityClarkCalamba CityNaga CityLegazpi CityBoracayIloilo CityBacolod CityLapulapu CityPanglaoSubic3Davao City2Metro Manila9Cebu City1Data source:Tourism Demand Statistics - Department of Tourism, Retrieved from www.tourism.gov.ph/tourism_dem_sup_pub.aspx, Accessed on October 7, 2019DomesticForeignPuerto Princesa CityBaguio CityClarkCalamba CityNaga CityLegazpi CityBoracayIloilo CityBacolod CityLapulapu CityPanglaoSubic2Davao City1Metro Manila17Cebu City3Puerto Princesa CityBaguio CityClarkCalamba CityNaga CityLegazpi CityIloilo CityBacolod CityPanglaoDavao CitySubicLapulapu City1Boracay2Metro Manila4Cebu City3Mindanao region is least visited by foreign tourists but still popular among the domestic tourists.
DomesticForeignPuerto Princesa CityBaguio CityClarkCalamba CityNaga CityLegazpi CityBoracayIloilo CityBacolod CityLapulapu CityPanglaoSubic2Davao City1Metro Manila17Cebu City3Puerto Princesa CityBaguio CityClarkCalamba CityNaga CityLegazpi CityIloilo CityBacolod CityPanglaoDavao CitySubicLapulapu City1Boracay2Metro Manila4Cebu City3Mindanao region is least visited by foreign tourists but still popular among the domestic tourists.

Map of the most popular destinations with the volumes of traffic to the Philippines. Through a scatter map, we pinpoint locations that relatively have a number of tourists both in domestic (local) and foreign origins. The larger circles represent higher volumes.

As you can see, the number of domestic tourists visually weighs more than the foreign tourists. There were also some noticeable differences between the tourists between where foreign and domestic tourists preferred tourist destinations.

The Mindanao region has by far the biggest disparity in popularity between foreign and local tourists. It is not as popular with the foreign tourists as compared to the domestic tourists. Davao City is the most visited destination for local tourists while Lapulapu City is the most popular among foreign tourists.

Top 15 Most Popular Tourist Destinations in the Philippines (Foreign and Domestic Tourists)

We compared foreign and domestic tourist arrivals in travel destinations in the Philippines and visualized the trend. Then, we ranked accordingly in every group, by domestic, by foreign or by overall total. The rating was based on the accumulated number of tourists since 2014 up to 2018. See the disparity between the volume of tourists between tourist origins and their respective volume.

3128451067931021964758123456789101112131415Cebu CityDavao CitySubicBoracayBaguio CityLapulapu CityNaga CityLegazpi CityMetro ManilaIloilo CityPuerto PrincesaCityCalamba CityClarkBacolod CityPanglao4M08MNumber of Tourists4M08MNumber of TouristsDomesticDestinationDestinationForeignTotal201420162018DomesticForeignTotal201420162018Island GroupLuzonMindanaonth RankVisayasnCebu City is the most visited tourist destination in the PhilippinesDavao City is the only city in Mindanao region included in this most visited tourist list.There are places like Baguio, which is popular among local tourists but not among foreign tourists. Other cities like Davao City, Subic, Iloilo City and Calamba City follow the same pattern.Boracay was closed for 6 months and underwent cleanup and renovation which may have caused by a sudden drop on the number of tourists between 2017 and 2018.Metro Manila ranks as the 9th most visited destination despite being the capital of the PhilippinesThe destination in the Philippines having a significant decline in tourists in the past 4 years.Data source:Tourism Demand Statistics - Department of Tourism, Retrieved from www.tourism.gov.ph/tourism_dem_sup_pub.aspx, Accessed on October 7, 2019

Most of the destinations have an upward trend both for international arrivals and domestic tourists except for Metro Manila, Boracay and others.

Metro Manila ranks 9th among the most visited destinations despite being capital city and biggest international flight recipient in the country. It might only have served as a transit hub where international tourists enter the country and proceed for more remote and inaccessible locations via international flights.

The significant drop in tourists in Boracay, might have been caused by the 6 months rehabilitation closure. This shows that the decrease in tourist arrivals was self-imposed.

Cebu City is at the top spot as a tourist destination but it started to decrease in tourist arrivals as well, both in domestic and foreign origins.

Despite the decrease in tourist arrivals of the previously mentioned travel destinations, most cities still enjoy the upward trend of tourist arrivals. These cities are Davao City, Baguio City, Naga City and Iloilo City.

What We've Learned So Far

To summarize, here are the highlight insights and discoveries we have learned so far:
  • Overseas visitors account for almost half of the international passenger traffic.
  • Manila's tourists have been continuously decreasing. Although, it still serves as an important transit hub in the Philippines.
  • Regional airports facilitate growth of international and domestic tourist traffic.
  • The 2017 conflict in Marawi seems to not have any major effect on tourism.
  • From 2014 to 2018 period, there have been no major natural disasters
  • There had been no occurrence of rendering airports or destinations unusable, as in the case of November 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Data Sources

  • Mactan Cebu International Airport, Passengers ( 2018 ),
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IFA7EuAe2uaLvwu89jVC1dV0TNWd36qF/view
  • DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM Regional Tourism Arrivals , Provincial Tourism Arrivals (2019), Sources of Data: A/D Cards & Shipping Manifests Prepared by: Statistics, Economic Analysis and Information Management Division Office of Tourism Development Planning, Research and Information Management Tourism Development,
    http://www.tourism.gov.ph/tourism_dem_sup_pub.aspx
    mysay@tourism.gov.ph;
  • 2019 Civil Aviations Authority of the Philippines, available via Open Data Philippines,
    https://data.gov.ph/?q=dataset/civil-aviation-authority-philippines-passenger-movement
  • Maria Bialecka (2010) Filipiny Analiza Rynku Turystycznego, Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego,
    https://wtir.awf.krakow.pl/pdf/studenci/strony_st/projekty/filipiny/bialecka.pdf
  • CAPA / Aviation Week by INFORMA,
    https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/philippines-international-aviation-market-booming-passenger-growth-410102
  • Henderson, J.C. (2011) TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICS IN THE PHILIPPINES,
    https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fbee/3d95184176e10bbbadeb0a14f89bf7031a5b.pdf
  • Rufino, Cesar. (2018). Forecasting Monthly Tourist Arrivals from ASEAN+3 Countries to the Philippines for 2015-2016 Using SARIMA Noise Modeling. Related: Rufino, Cesar. (2018). Tourist Arrivals from Korea, US, Japan and China to the Philippines: Two-year Ahead Monthly Forecast Scenarios. Rufino, Cesar. (2015). Forecasting Tourist Arrival from ASEAN+3 Countries to the Philippines.,
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331562606_Tourist_Arrivals_from_Korea_US_Japan_and_China_to_the_Philippines_Two-year_Ahead_Monthly_Forecast_Scenarios
  • Trip Advisor, Record Number of Foreigners Visit the Philippines in 2018,
    https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g294245-i3256-k12278521-Record_number_of_foreigners_visit_Philippines_in_2018-Philippines.html
  • Jung, Thomas (2010) Tourism in Metropolitan Manila - Philippines: An Analysis,
    https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12010740.pdf
  • Boracay Boats and Tourists, Wikimedia,
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boracay_Boat_and_Tourists.jpg