It’s more fun in the Philippines? The challenges of tourism

Abstract

The Philippines have been in recent years a minor destination of international tourism flows, especially from Europe. Most visitors are Asians (Korea, Japan), Americans or Australians. This chapter examines some strengths of the Philippines in terms of tourism potentials (landscapes, undersea diving, cultural heritage), then its organizational and infrastructural weaknesses (transportation), as well as the lack of proper maintenance of tourism assets and the overcrowding of Boracay island, before examining the tourism policies of the national government (the successful “Its more fun in the Philippines” campaign, development of gambling, medical tourism and ecotourism). Four case studies in Bohol (diving and ecotourism), Laguna province (perimetropolitan resorts at a short distance from Manila), Batanes islands (non-tropical landscapes of a remote archipelago) and the rice terraces of Ifugao country in northern Luzon illustrate the diversity of tourism options in the Philippines around the dominant concept of sustainable tourism.