THE Department of Tourism (DoT) said on Tuesday that the Philippines lags its regional rivals in tourism investment, with spending by some ASEAN countries far outstripping Philippine levels.
Tourism Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina G. Frasco noted at the Senate the “big disparity between the Philippines and our ASEAN neighbors; while we are operating at only over P3 billion, we are competing with countries that have devoted (far more), especially in terms of marketing and promotions.”
She made the remarks to reporters on the sidelines of a budget hearing for her department.
Under the National Expenditure Plan 2026, the department’s branding campaign budget was slashed to P100 million, from P200 million in 2024 and P1.2 billion in 2023.
“Hopefully, we will be able to pick up enough funds so that we can give our country the chance to promote the beauty of the Philippines and to help more Filipinos through tourism,” she added.
For 2026, the DoT is asking for a P500-million budget for its branding campaign.
“Our requests are very much confined by the ceiling provided to us by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM),” she added.
During the hearing, Ms. Frasco said in response to a query about arrival targets that the 7.7 million target last year had assumed the liberalization of visas, specifically for the Chinese market.
“Considering that (most) of our neighbors lifted visa requirements for Chinese nationals, the electronic visa program was launched by the Department of Foreign Affairs,” she said.
“It had projected that they would be able to issue 2 million visas within the span of one year at around 8,000 visas per day. That 2 million number was not reached because the e-visa program was promptly suspended,” she added.
She also added that the Philippines is dependent on air travel for international arrivals, making it harder to compete.
She cited a correlation between tourism investment and results.
“A comparison of the budgets of our counterpart departments of tourism among our direct neighbors would show that the Philippines’ ranking in ASEAN almost equates to our ranking in terms of budgets,” she said.
“The less you invest in tourism, the fewer international arrivals you will have. And finally, we wish to emphasize… that we simply cannot perform as well as we would like if we are given such meager resources,” she added.
In 2024, the DoT received a budget equivalent to $52.1 million, compared to $431.42 million by Singapore, $262.87 million by Malaysia, $234.36 million by Indonesia, $167.9 million by Thailand, and $147.92 million by Vietnam.
She noted the need to emphasize metrics like gross domestic product (GDP) contribution and employment rather than raw arrival numbers.
“Notwithstanding the low international arrivals, our performance as far as GDP contribution with our ASEAN neighbors would show that the GDP contribution of the Philippines in tourism is the highest in Southeast Asia,” she said.
“Tourism spending per capita among our Southeast Asian neighbors places the Philippines first at no less than $2,073, and tourism employment for the country, which is also an important measure of tourism performance, has exceeded pre-pandemic numbers,” she added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile