Tourism Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina G. Frasco said efforts are underway to strengthen travel confidence in the Philippines, as natural calamities and infrastructure project anomalies weigh on the tourism sector.
“Any negative perception of the Philippines has a tendency to affect travel confidence to the Philippines,” she told BusinessWorld on Tuesday at the sidelines of an event. “We’re here to deliver the good news and to build up that traveler confidence once again.”
Apart from infrastructure problems, Ms. Frasco noted that natural disasters also took a toll on the country’s tourism sector, affecting the livelihoods of over 43,000 tourism workers.
“The last five months have seen unprecedented calamities and difficulties for the country,” she told reporters in an interview.
“In just five months, we have already seen 31 travel alerts issued by countries around the world, which have, of course, had a negative impact on tourism,” she added.
A report from the Department of Tourism (DoT) revealed that tourist arrivals dropped by 2.16%, a drop from 5.35 million in the same period in 2024 to 5.235 million in the January-to-November period.
The bulk of tourist arrivals, or 4.918 million, were from foreign visitors, with South Korea as the largest source of tourists in the first 11 months of the year, contributing 21.66%.
While the country has received 1.134 million visitors from South Korea, this was a 21% decline from the 1.436 million Korean tourists a year ago.
Tourists from China, the country’s fifth-biggest source of tourists, declined as well by 16.55%.
“We are well aware of the difficulties that we have faced,” Ms. Frasco said. “In terms of China, with the e-visa having been resumed quite late, as well as with South Korea, with certain issues that have been brought up in terms of safety.”
“We’re working very closely with our fellow government agencies to manage these challenges…We continue to push for Philippine tourism through aggressive marketing campaigns,” she added.
Although a decline is occurring in certain markets, Ms. Frasco said that the US, Canada, Australia, and parts of Europe have experienced “robust growth” in visitors.
Transit tours and medical lounge
The first transit tours and medical tourism concierge was launched as part of the initiatives to attract more visitors and encourage transiting passengers to explore cultural heritage and leisure destinations in Manila.
The transit tour, which costs USD $50, is open to passengers with an eight-hour layover in Manila. The four-hour tour can be either in Intramuros and the National Museum, or Okada Manila and Solaire Resort.
Booking of tours can be through the LovePH mobile application, the Philippine Airlines website, partner tour operators, or walk-in registration at Transit Concierge Desks in NAIA Terminal 1 and 3.
“Even if you’re just in the Philippines for a few hours or you’re waiting for your onward flight to a domestic destination, you will get to know the cultural treasures and offerings of Metro Manila,” the Tourism Secretary said.
Meanwhile, the medical tourism concierge is a dedicated airport assistance service for medical tourism patients.
Among the services included in the project are assistance with the patient’s arrival procedures and coordination of transfers to partner hospitals and clinics.
Some of the partner medical and wellness institutions are the Medical City, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Makati Medical Center, and Belo Medical Group.
“We cannot deny all the headwinds and challenges that we have faced this year. It’s been an incredibly difficult year, especially for tourism,” Ms. Frasco said. “With a budget that has been slashed by 93%, we had our hands tied.”
“Notwithstanding that, we have achieved many firsts in Philippine tourism,” she added, citing the newly launched transit tours and medical tourism concierge.
The department’s branding budget in 2025 is P100 million, down from P200 million in 2024 and P1.2 billion in 2023.— Almira Louise S. Martinez