From 2000 to 2009, a total of 696,530 foreign tourists visited the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) based on data from the Department of Tourism (DOT). Most came from the United States with 129,926 or 18.7 percent of total foreign visitors during the ten-year period. South Korea was the second largest market with 79,150 or 11.4 percent while Japan was third at 72,222 or 10.4 percent.

TRounding up the top ten tourist markets were Germany (4.8%), Canada (4.2%), France (3.9%), Australia (3.6%), China (3.4%), the United Kingdom (3.2%) and the Netherlands (2.2%). On an annual basis, the Americans were the dominant tourist group until they were overtaken by the Japanese in 2003 and by the Koreans in 2005, 2006, 2007 and in 2009.

The world financial crisis took its toll on the tourism market in CAR. The number of foreign travelers declined by 20.5 percent or from 113,099 in 2008 to only 89,941 in 2009. Likewise, CAR's share to total foreign visitor arrivals in the Philippines shrank from 3.8 to 3.2 percent during the period. Among the top 10 tourist markets, only France sustained its increasing traffic of tourists to the region. From 2008-2009, French visitors to the region increased by 6.6 percent or from 4,373 to 4,660.