On January 20, Philippine Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and Thai Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sorawong Thienthong, signed a five-year tourism cooperation agreement titled the Implementation Program of the Agreement on Cooperation on Tourism. The agreement focuses on key areas such as tourism collaboration, exchange of officials and best practices, and joint tourism promotion and marketing efforts.
Secretary Frasco emphasized that the partnership would enable the Philippines to learn from Thailand’s remarkable success in attracting visitors, particularly in cultural and medical tourism, while also showcasing the Philippines’ own strengths. She noted that Thailand, in turn, would benefit from the Philippines’ expertise in hospitality, its ability to attract foreign visitors through its biodiverse marine ecosystems, and its strong English-language education sector.
Thailand continues to see substantial growth in its tourism industry, exceeding government expectations with over 35 million visitors in 2024. Meanwhile, the Philippines fell short of its target of 7.7 million tourist arrivals, receiving only 5.9 million visitors. However, this marked a 9.15% increase from 2023, with total tourism revenue reaching a record USD 13.1 billion.
The Philippines also announced a new tourism implementation program with Cambodia for 2025–2028. Building on an existing MoU on tourism cooperation, the program will be overseen by a joint working group (JWG) and focuses on key areas such as the exchange of tourism professionals, sharing of best practices in tourism development, joint promotional and marketing efforts, human resource development and training programs, and collaboration in tourism fairs, exhibitions, and other promotional activities.
As the ASEAN chair next year, the Philippines is also set to host the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), an annual event where tourism policies will be discussed to further boost regional tourism, in Cebu. This follows the country's recent hosting of the 36th UN Tourism Joint Commission Meeting for the Asia-Pacific and South Asia, as well as the inaugural UN Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in June 2024.
