DOT: Domestic tourism alive during holidays

MANILA, Philippines — Domestic travelers boosted tourism in select destinations in the country during the holidays, the Department of Tourism reported yesterday.

The DOT identified the world-famous Boracay Island as the most visited tourist site with 118,745 guests from Dec. 15, 2015 to New Year’s Eve.

Boracay is followed by Baguio City with 117,137 guests and Cebu City with 102,124 tourists.

Also drawing local tourists were Panglao Island and Tacloban City in Bohol, Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte, Malajog Beach in Calbayog City and the historic district of Intramuros.

Samar, Camarines Sur, Albay, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Nueva Vizcaya, Sarangani, Bukidnon, Camiguin and Palawan were also listed among top local tourist destinations.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the recent Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays, prolonged by the school break and a weeklong suspension of work in government, “once again showed how Filipinos continue to explore and support our own destinations.”

“The strength of domestic tourism in the Philippines remains a driving force of our travel industry,” Frasco said.    

The DOT did not provide data from 2024 to compare with the 2025 figures.

However, it showed that 5,235,455 foreign travelers visited the country from January to November 2025.

The figure is lower by 2.16 percent compared to the 5,350,857 foreign tourists in the same period in 2024.