Find out which of our presidents has been bitten by the travel bug and other interesting presidential travel facts.

Travel is one our greatest aspirations in life, and presidents are also not immune to a case of wanderlust. But when it comes to our country’s head of state, international travel serves as a very important opportunity to create and improve foreign relations.

There are three types of diplomatic visits: state, official and working. The purpose of Philippine presidents’ international visits varies; nonetheless, each visit is crucial to building partnerships with nations.

With this in mind, who of our presidents has the most impressive travel itinerary? And which country serves as our presidents’ favourite destination? Here are some interesting Presidential travel facts:

President who made the most foreign visits: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 127 visits

Most visited region: Southeast Asia, 92 visits

Most visited country: United States of America, 53 visits by 12 presidents

Countries that have been visited only once:

• Argentina (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Austria (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Bangladesh (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Brazil (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)
• Colombia (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Czech Republic (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Equatorial Guinea (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)
• Finland (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)
• Greece (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Kenya (Ferdinand Marcos)
• Liberia (Diosdado Macapagal)
• Libya (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)
• Madagascar (Diosdado Macapagal)
• Netherlands (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Northern Borneo (Elpidio Quirino)
• Northern Ireland (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Panama (Fidel V. Ramos)
• Peru (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)
• Portugal (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)
• Taiwan (Sergio Osmeña)
• Tanganyika (Diosdado Macapagal)

Most number of visits in a country by a president: USA, 16 visits by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Most visited Asian country: Japan, 28 visits by 10 presidents

Most visited EU country: Italy, 8 visits by 5 presidents

President who made the most visits to EU: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 20 visits

President who visited the most number of countries in the EU: Fidel V. Ramos, 13 countries

Year with most visits: 1997, 26 visits by Fidel V. Ramos

The full list of information on Presidential foreign visits can be found here. The tally only includes year 1935 to the present.