The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on April 28 that they held a Korea tourism promotional event themed around K-beauty, titled '2025 K-Beauty Glow-up,' in Manila, Philippines, from April 25 to 26 to attract Filipino tourists to Korea.
The event, held at the upscale shopping mall SM Aura in Manila, was attended by Lee Sanghwa, Ambassador to the Philippines, and Christina Frasco, Secretary of the Philippine Department of Tourism, among others. The venue featured various experience zones, including a personal color diagnosis by Haebom, Korean-style hairstyling by the beauty salon Jennyhouse, as well as beauty exhibition booths from Amore Pacific and Korean SMEs organized by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), all of which attracted significant local attention. There were also promotions such as Klook's K-culture Korea travel packages and Korean Air's Fly&Glow discount promotion.
Notably, on April 25, popular Filipino actress Kyline Alcantara, who has served as Korea Tourism Honorary Ambassador since 2022, attended the event and shared her vivid personal experiences of traveling in Korea. In addition, Angela, the leader of the girl group KAIA, participated as a model for a Korean-style makeup demonstration, drawing the attention of visitors.
Over the two days, more than 5,000 visitors attended the event, demonstrating the high popularity of K-beauty.
According to the 2025 Overseas Hallyu Survey, among the 28 countries surveyed, the Philippines ranked highest in terms of K-beauty’s mainstream popularity (72.4%) and second in favorability. Furthermore, cosmetics were cited as the number one shopping item (63.8%) for Filipino tourists visiting Korea, highlighting the strong preference for K-beauty among Filipinos. Inspired by this popularity, the Korea Tourism Organization and the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines held this K-beauty themed event for the second consecutive year.
Park Younghee, head of the Manila office of the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, "In 2024, approximately 520,000 Filipino tourists visited Korea, marking a 50.6% surge compared to 2023 and ranking first among Southeast Asian countries in terms of visitors to Korea. We will strengthen locally tailored marketing efforts to ensure that the interest in K-beauty leads to increased travel to Korea, and we will make every effort to attract more Filipino tourists."
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