If the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were protagonists in a three-way Southeast Asian tourism match, the final score would be Thailand 35, Vietnam 19 and the Philippines 6 (6.6 to be exact). These are the totals of 2017 foreign tourist arrivals—in millions—that have just been announced by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and its Thai and Vietnamese counterparts.
As usual in instances like these, DOT’s information people have sought to make the 6.6 million-tourists outcome look good by resorting to percentages. “International visitor arrivals climbed 11 percent in 2017 to hit a record 6.62 million,” Secretary of Tourism Wanda Teo was quoted as saying in the DOT announcement. But there is no gainsaying 7 million is dismal when compared to 35 million and 19 million.
To explain DOT’s performance last year Secretary Teo cited “a series of political noises, security concerns and travel advisories against the country.” This begs the question: Aren’t the tourism industries of Thailand, Vietnam and the other better-performing Southeast Asian countries beset by these same problems to some degree or another?
Let’s look at Vietnam. Why should this country that faces the Philippines across the South China Sea be able to attract almost three times the number of 2017 foreign visitors to the Philippines? It is a question that’s difficult to answer. The Vietnamese are bound to disagree, but the Philippines has more to offer foreign visitors than that former French colonial outpost.
Because of its archipelagic configuration, the Philippines offers a broader range and variety of places for foreign visitors to see and enjoy. In recent years, places like Coron, Boracay, Panglao, Siargao and Siquijor have been added to the list of must-see places in this country. In contrast, Vietnam offers only a South China Sea coastline. And almost four centuries of Spanish colonization have left the Philippines with a much bigger Western footprint – architecture, physical as well as cultural—than a country that offers foreign visitors a largely Eastern milieu. Yet, Vietnam’s foreign-visitors total has been rising at a steadily higher rate than this country’s. Obviously, foreigners think it’s more fun in Vietnam.
Now let’s look at Thailand. That Kingdom in the middle part of the Indochinese Peninsula has long been the mecca of tourism in this part of the world. Clearly, Bangkok has been having greater drawing power than Manila. In 2017 that drawing power brought upwards of 35 million foreign tourists to Thailand. Again, one is compelled to ask “Why?”
Is the explanation inadequate airport and airline facilities? Not enough first-rate hotels? Metro Manila’s awful traffic? Not enough good eating places? Problems with getting to the resorts? Difficulty in getting to the resorts? Whatever the reason or reasons—surely it can’t be the political dissonance in this country because Thailand is currently under martial law after another one of those Bangkok coups d’etat—the fact is that Thailand’s tourism industry has been doing far better than ours over the years and did so again in 2017.
Yet, just as there is nothing that Vietnam can offer foreign tourists that the Philippines cannot, so, also, there is nothing that Thailand can offer them that the Philippines cannot. The charms of Ho Chi Minh City, Phuket, Da Nang and Hanoi are no less available in this country.
But something—or some things—are clearly missing. Secretary Teo and her people have to discover what that thing or those things are. Until they do, tourism-match scores like Thailand 35, Vietnam 19, Philippines 6 will keep recurring.
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