PH Ranks Among World’s Top Emerging Tourism Economies in 2026 WEF Index

𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 7𝘵𝘩-𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺.

The Philippines closes Tourism Monthin September 30, with a stronger ranking on the global tourism stage, as it becomes the seventh-fastest improving economy in the world this year, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2026 Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI). The country, in particular, climbed eight places to 57th out of 110 economies surveyed.

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦,” said Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay.

Sustainability posted the country’s largest improvement in ranking, rising from 64th to 29th in the Travel and Tourism Sustainability dimension, driven by stronger scores in nature protection and wastewater treatment. Within this area, the Philippines ranked second globally in the Travel and Tourism Demand Sustainability pillar, supported by a significant increase in its score for geographically dispersed tourism, from an index score of 3.2 to 5.2 out of 7.

This recognition comes at the heels of the Philippines being named as the Global Dive Destination of the Year at the ADEX Big Blue Legacy Awards 2026, and the Best Dive Destination Award at the DRT Show Shanghai 2026, reflecting the government’s commitment to protecting our environment and natural resources.

“𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘌𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵,” Angara-Mathay shared.

Ground transport and port connectivity also climbed from 80th to 49th, with 26 of those places gained in the last two years, buoyed by higher ratings for seaport, public transport, and train efficiency. This progress comes amid stronger collaboration between the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on transport and infrastructure improvements across the country’s seaports, airports, rail, roads, and bridges.

The Philippines also moved from 93rd to 73rd in safety and security as homicide incidents fell from about 10.5 to 4.4 per 100,000 people. The Department credits its close coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) on tourist safety, including the recently cascaded manual on tourist safety and disaster response.

The country’s strongest-performing dimension was policy and enabling conditions, which climbed from 33rd place in 2019 to 12th in 2026, as government spending on tourism grew from 3.1 percent of the national budget to 5.8 percent.

Culture and heritage, meanwhile, recorded the largest score increase of any of the country’s 17 pillars, rising 43 percent since 2019 and lifting the Philippines from 52nd to 38th, reflecting broader international recognition that includes five UNESCO Creative Cities, up from one in 2019.

The Philippines scored 4.08 out of 7 overall and was identified by the WEF as one of the world’s ten major emerging tourism economies, alongside China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Türkiye, Mexico, and Brazil.

The TTDI assesses economies across five dimensions and 17 pillars, using 102 indicators, to measure the factors that enable sustainable and resilient tourism development.