How shared Asean visa could help Philippines find its travel feet
While Asean members such as Malaysia and Vietnam have shown strong post-pandemic growth, tourist numbers have lagged in the Philippines
In 2024, 20 million Chinese, 9 million South Koreans and 3 million Japanese visited the region. Further growth from these markets is expected this year.
“What we decide and coordinate in meetings like this translates into the visitor journey, competitiveness of our destinations, resilience of our enterprises and livelihoods of our communities,” Verna Buensuceso, undersecretary for the Philippines’ Department of Tourism, said in her opening remarks.
Buencuseso called for interconnected tourism corridors by 2030, which she said would help showcase nature-based destinations and strengthen the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ competitiveness as a single tourism destination.
Analysts argue inherent competition among member states would make it challenging to sell the region as a unified travel destination, but an integrated visa arrangement may help promote multicountry itineraries.