Philippines more expensive than Vietnam, Thailand

Vietnam and Thailand continue to attract more tourists than the Philippines as our two Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) neighbors  are able to offer cheaper prices.

This was acknowledged by newly installed Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay following her speech and appeal to members of the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association or HSMA during their general membership meeting last Monday at the Hilton Manila in Pasay – to offer more competitive tourism bundles and packages to attract more foreign visitors.

The DOT, along with other tourism stakeholders, is scheduled to unveil on Friday its new program “More to Love” that will offer competitive online  hotel packages for foreign tourists that could offer up to as much as 70 percent discount on room rates.

Mathay, in an interview, admitted that Vietnam and Thailand are indeed cheaper and that our tourist arrival figures are just about half of what  those two countries record. However, she was quick to point out that their tourist arrival numbers are high because they are landlocked and it is easier to cross their borders, and that those cross border crossings are also  counted as arrivals.

The DOT secretary said: “We’re doing our domestic campaign, along with members of the HSMA and  other institutions, para mag bundle package style, para mas mura.”

The Philippines, on the other hand, Mathay argued, is archipelagic. “So that’s why it’s more expensive, and that’s why we’re doing our domestic campaign.”

Mathay’s view on Vietnam was shared by Margie Munsayac, vice president for sales and marketing of Blue Water Resorts in Cebu, remarking “Oh, definitely. Vietnam has more products, more destinations, more frequency of flights and their rates are very reasonable.”

She revealed that a five-star hotel in Vietnam can offer an attractive accommodation  rate of  $100 per night. “Wow! I mean, you see a lot of Filipinos there. If I can bring back the Filipinos to the Philippines. I would love it.”

She added that it is easier to visit different areas of Vietnam as compared to the Philippines (which is comprised of more than 7,000 islands, with the count of the  number of islands –  as a joke – increasing or decreasing depending on high tide or low tide).

Munsayac added that contributing to the higher cost for foreign tourists is the cost of domestic airfare, even as she noted local domestic carrier Cebu Pacific Air is able to offer  low rates.

She expressed hope and optimism about growing our tourist arrival numbers as  Mathay  has been “very supportive, she knows that, and she’s looking into all of these things. I think, one by one, we will see it being addressed.”

Munsayac, likewise, cited the culinary offerings that the Philippines can offer following its inclusion in the Michelin Guide.

As of June 15,  Mathay said that year-on-year tourist arrival figures for  Jan. 1 to June 15, 2026 compared to the comparable 2025 time period shows a 6.1 percent growth.

However, visitor arrival figures based on actual e-travel documents submitted upon entry to the country, and which include overseas Filipinos, from Jan. 1 to May 31 this year had recorded a total of 2.74 million arrivals.

Last year, the same arrivals recorded for the five-month period stood at 2.55 million, indicating that year-on-year arrivals had increased by 7.51 percent.  

Mathay also noted that for the first time, visiting Filipino balikbayans topped the country’s tourist arrival figures.  She explained that the visiting Filipino-Americans are comprised of the “old-timers” or original Filipino immigrants visiting the country, and the other are their children or the younger generation “who are looking for their identity, so they’re always trying to find themselves and their identity.”

As such, Mathay said, the DOT is “preparing two kinds of itinerary for these two groups of people so we can make them feel that they belong somewhere despite their having relocated overseas.”

South Korean tourists, she added,  are the second largest visitors to the Philippines, lamenting though that their arrival numbers have declined due to lingering concerns about their safety and security.

“Everything went up, except for Korea,” Mathay said, “so we have to think about a way to restore our numbers in Korea. I’m going to meet with the TIEZA (Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority) people because their promotion... we’re going to review what we are lacking and what we need to do.”

Mathay acknowledged continuing safety and security concerns of South Korean visitors due to past kidnappings and even murder. She said that  “we’re talking to DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla.  We will be helped by the DILG to have some kind of plainclothes security to take care of our tourists. So they will  do a pilot.”

She did not elaborate on the details of the safety and security measure as “I don’t want to preempt them. They will announce pa lang.”

Visitors from Japan rank third, and pretty much like South Korean tourists, have also expressed concern about their safety and security after a spate of robberies in Makati where most Japanese expatriates spend their leisure time.

Tourists from China, which rank fourth, have also spiked upward following the grant of a 14-day visa free program, with arrival figures, according to Mathay spiking up by as much as 60 percent.

In terms of arrival ranking, Canada is fifth, Australia is sixth, Taiwan is seventh, the United Kingdom is eight and Singapore is ninth.

Visitor arrivals from India (which ranks 10th in terms of Philippine visitor arrivals) has increased by around 40 percent, the DOT Secretary said.

The DOT has also implemented a halal tourism program to attract more visitors from our Muslim neighbors that also include Malaysia and Indonesia.