What rebound? Tourism numbers in Philippines only 55 - 60 percent of pre-Covid 2019 levels.

[macaroni21]

 

[forrestreid]

From watching the video, it seems the sharp drop in Chinese tourists from 2019 to now is the main issue. Safety concerns might play a small role, but the report points much more strongly to the current tensions between the Philippines and China.

That part made me think of what @Moses previously claimed here—that Chinese tourists aren’t heavily influenced by their government’s stance (he mentioned this in the context of Chinese tourism to Japan). But this video suggests they might be more affected than he thinks. To be fair, the suspension of the e‑visa program was probably the biggest factor in this case. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly Chinese tourism rebounds once the system is running again.

Speaking for myself: I’ve used Bangkok as a base for trips to Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Bali, and Cambodia over the last 12 years, and I’ve considered the Philippines a few times. But it always felt like poor value, mostly because of logistics.

I was more interested in Boracay or Cebu than Manila, but it seemed awkward that you more or less have to fly into Manila anyway. I did consider spending time in Manila, and Intramuros (the old city)  looked interesting, but the difficulty of getting around the city made it less appealing overall. On top of that, finding a reasonably timed flight from Manila to Caticlan (for Boracay) was more awkward and more expensive than I expected.

If I had heard that there were good bars for guys available for hire people or a solid massage scene, I might have overlooked those issues—but from what I remember, even that side of things seemed a bit inconvenient. I know people who have went reported that the apps are good, but I prefer to meet people in a venue when I am on holiday.

[macaroni21]

Two other possible reasons for the sharp drop in Chinese visitors: a downturn in the Chinese economy the past few years since the pandemic, and bad reports from those who have gone to the Philippines previously (which I can totally understand).

Having been to the Philippines a few times over the past 30 years, I think the traffic and transport situation has become impossible. In Manila, anytime you're on the road even in a Grabcar, it's gridlock all the way to 12 midnight. From the airport, just getting to your hotel is already a nigthmare. The city has no easy-to-understand public transport system except for a few metro lines that are decrepit, terribly crowded, and seldom go where you want to go.

Hotels are overpriced. 

Food offerings are also mediocre. Whereas in many other Southeast Asian countries, there are plenty of cheap and midpriced places that serve tasty, good food, in the Philippines, the food quality is much poorer -- I think the local cultural expectations of what "food" should be are not demanding enough. 

Most important of all, for folks like us, 

On 1/27/2026 at 5:00 AM, forrestreid said:

If I had heard that there were good bars for guys available for hire people or a solid massage scene, I might have overlooked those issues—but from what I remember, even that side of things seemed a bit inconvenient. I know people who have went reported that the apps are good, but I prefer to meet people in a venue when I am on holiday.

Agreed. There are "massage" shops but again, the subpar standard of facilities, the often lackdaisical service quality, and the pain of getting through the traffic to reach the shops.... they're not worth the trouble. 

Indeed, there are nice places outside of Manila, but most of them are beach places. Unless you're a beach person, the Philippines doesn't have much to offer. As the video also says, you'd have to go back to Ninoy Aquino Airport (never something to look forward to) and catch a domestic flight to whichever domestic destination you want to go to. Or you could take an overnight ferry and risk drowning. Furthermore, the gay industry hardly exists outside Manila.