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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Visayas devider Central Visayas logs 6.9-M tourist arrivals

Central Visayas logs 6.9-M tourist arrivals

Published Apr 14, 2026 03:12 pm
CEBU, a top tourist destination in Central Visayas, was hit by two calamities last year. (Calvin Cordova)
CEBU, a top tourist destination in Central Visayas, was hit by two calamities last year. (Calvin Cordova)
CEBU CITY – A strong earthquake and a devastating typhoon rocked Central Visayas last year but the region still recorded slight improvement in tourist arrivals.
The Department of Development-Central Visayas (DepDev-7) said a total of 6.9 million tourists visited the region last year.
Citing data from the Department of Tourism- Central Visayas (DOT-7), DepDev-7 said the figures are 8.4 percent higher compared to 2024 that saw the region receive 6,453,422 visitors.
“The year 2025 was a challenging one for the Central Visayas tourism industry, yet tourism arrivals managed to surpass 2024 figures,” DepDev stated.
The increase was sparked by domestic tourists who accounted for 63 percent of all tourist arrivals in the region.
Central Visayas logged a total of 2,554,289 foreign visitors in 2024 with South Korea still emerging as the top market
The region welcomed 966,000 tourists from South Korea in 2025 which is actually 5.38 percent lower compared to those posted in 2024.
Japan showed the strongest growth among major markets at 50.45 percent. Foreign tourist arrivals from Japan increased from 244,537 in 2024 to 337,812 in 2025.
Other growing markets were France (34.40 percent), Germany (23.77 percent), and Canada (21.46 percent).
Rounding the top five markets of foreign arrivals for the region were the United States (261,004), China (112,121), and Taiwan (103,219).
Cebu was hit by two calamities – a 6.9-earthquake in September and typhoon ‘’Tino’’ in November – last year.
The two calamities resulted in at least 300 deaths while leaving P663 million in damages and losses in the tourism sector, DepDev said.
The earthquake, which heavily affected northern Cebu, affected roughly 2,000 tourism workers.
Because of the twin calamities, the region recorded a 6.2 percent decline in the number of businesses in the food and beverage sector.

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