History of Philippine Tourism

Ever wonder about the history of tourism in the Philippines? This can give you a good idea and maybe even say, “woah!” You may realize that the origin of tourism in the Philippines dates back even before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers! Then you would continue asking why the country slid down from being one of the top tourist destinations in Asia to a laggard. It’s kinda sobering, actually. But read on the details to be informed and perhaps entertained.

Ready to be blown away?

Let’s read the history of tourism in the Philippines.

1417: The Sultan of Sulu, Paduka Pahala traveled to Beijing to pay tribute to the emperor of China, Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps we could consider the sultan’s party as the first official travel group from the Philippines. But the sultan died in China while still in that country and the rest of his party stayed there. As regards travel between the two countries, it has been known that Chinese traders had been visiting the Philippines many years prior to the arrival of Spaniards.

1521 - 1898: Spanish colonial era - Travel was limited between islands and coastal areas. The seas were actually considered bridges instead of barriers between different peoples of the Philippines. Inland travel was very limited due to the absence of roads. However, a very interesting interaction between the Cordillera highlands and the Ilocos lowlands had been ongoing. So-called Spanish or pre-Spanish trails were frequently used by the highland communities in order to trade with the lowlanders. Meat, salt, and housewares were the items often exchanged. Local Cordillera elders whom I interacted with told of their houses having extra space for weary travelers who had to travel several days between the Cordilleras and the lowlands and were in need of places to stay for the cold nights. Perhaps such hospitality has been ingrained in the Filipinos.

The Spanish era also made religious pilgrimage popular and as a reason (or excuse) to travel. That culture has continued to be practiced in many communities up to the present day. One such notable pilgrimage was visiting the Church of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo, Rizal during the month of May. Pilgrims seeking the Virgin’s blessings and protection would board boats near Quiapo, heading upriver to either Cainta or Taytay. Since the church was located on top of a hill, visitors took transport either in hammocks carried by crews of men or by horse-drawn carriage. After the pilgrimage, some visitors would go bathe in a nearby waterfall known as Hinulugang Taktak (i got this description from the website, tulay.ph).

Privately owned rest houses, such as Malacañan Palace (originally owned by businessman Don Luis Rocha) were used for accommodation by the society elite who went on local pilgrimages.

Mid 1800’s - Spanish colonial authorities introduced innovations such as railroad, electricity and telegram. Manila opened to world trade which opened the door to increasing number of foreign businessmen and diplomats and subsequently also increased the demand for first class accommodation facilities.

1889: The first deluxe hotel, Hotel de Oriente, opened.  

1898: United States became the colonial master of the Philippines. American expatriates increased and demand for more hotels increased

1912: Manila Hotel opened. Soon, mineral mining in the Cordilleras resulted to the conversion of Baguio City into a summer vacation destination for American expats and their families. Near Manila, other vacation spots were the hot springs of Los Banos in Laguna and the beaches of Cavite.

First half of 20th century: Limited Visitor arrivals to the Philippines was at the Port Area of Manila.

1935: First trans-Pacific passenger flight from San Francisco was done in 1935 by a huge Pan American Airline flying boat since there was no commercial airport yet in Manila. Each plane could only accommodate 25 passengers.

1937: New Zealand-born businessman Laurie Nielson opened the country’s first civilian airport in Makati City (called then as Nielson Airport and now known as Ayala Triangle).

1941: First flight of Philippine Airlines from Makati to Baguio. Only a few places outside of Manila, such as Baguio and Taal Volcano, were developed specifically for tourism. Public transport such as ships, buses and trains were regarded unreliable and unsafe.

1950: Modesto Farolan, first consul general in Hawaii, set up the Philippine Tourists and Travel Association which was patterned after the Hawaii Visitors Bureau. Its office was in a space in Manila Hotel.

1956: the government set up the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry

1960: The government started keeping records of visitor arrivals. For that year, the country attracted 51,000 visitors.

1966: The first Philippine Tourism Week was held, aimed at promoting domestic tourism and encouraging Filipinos to travel within the country.

1967: The "Visit the Philippines Year" campaign was launched, with the goal of attracting more foreign tourists to the country. The campaign was successful, with tourist arrivals reaching over 300,000.

1968: The Sheraton and the Hilton hotels opened

1969: The Intercontinental opened.

1972: Martial Law was declared and curfew was implemented. Tourism took a direct hit. Domestic tourism became non-existent as Filipinos travel only for the sole reason to visit relatives and friends. Outside the usual holidays when Filipinos can flock to provinces and beach destinations, most would not dare go to far-off places due to the possibility that they be accused of being communist rebels. Foreign visitors were limited to very few destinations such as Manila and environs, Batangas, Cavite, Baguio, Laguna, Ilocos and Banaue in Luzon. Tour programs however were still done in Cebu and some parts of Mindanao, particularly Zamboanga City, Cotabato and Davao in the early ‘70s. However, the birth of Muslim rebellion and the declining peace and order situation put a break on tourism in Mindanao.

1973: 243,000 tourists were recorded.

Mid ‘70s: More hotels were built in Manila and some provincial destinations. These include the Holiday Inn, Hyatt, the Peninsula and the Mandarin Oriental. The government focused on hosting international events such as the hosting of Ms. Universe and the fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, which was dubbed Thrilla in Manila.

1977: The University of Philippines opened up the Asian Institute of Tourism, first tourism degree course in the country.

1980: The Philippines breached the 1 million tourist arrivals

1986: Due to the declining political, economic and peace and order situation, the president of the country was deposed and forced into exile. Tourism was totally down on the ground. The tourism office launched the program, Huwag Maging Dayuhan sa Sariling Bayan, which was aimed at encouraging Filipinos to travel around the country. However, very few Pinoys would dare venture into the countryside because of the economic condition of most Pinoys and the still unstable sense of security in many places.

1987: The Philippine government launched the "Philippines: More than the Usual" tourism campaign, which aimed to promote the country's unique culture and natural attractions to international tourists. Outside the few established destinations most of which are located in the environs of Metro Manila, Cebu and Baguio City, domestic tourism was still almost irrelevant.

1987 - 1990: Numerous (seven) violent coup d’ etat were attempted in order to established military junta in place of the government. Although the attempts to grab power all failed, they caused massive impacts to the tourism industry that further set the tourism industry many years backwards. Other Asian countries that used to envy the Philippines started overtaking in terms of development and visitor arrivals.

The tourism industry was having a very hard time recovering that the infrastructure arm of the DOT, the then Philippine Tourism Authority was forced into building basketball courts in some areas as the influencing politicians could only think of basketball courts and local parks for their tourism projects. (In case you’re a little confused, implementing government bodies would be influenced by politicians such as senators and congressmen to allocate funds and projects for their constituents.

1990: A strong earthquake leveled many areas in Luzon. The most affected tourist destination was Baguio City which suffered the collapse of several hotels.

1991: The Philippine Tourism Master Plan was published. It was supposed to guide the development of tourism estates that would rival known tourist destinations abroad. However, land speculations, political issues and government limitations did not allow most of the tourism estates and study areas be developed according to the master plan. Other programs, however, became institutionalized and guided the development and local management of tourism in the country.

1991: The eruption of Mount Pinatubo, one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, further impacted the tourism industry in the northern part of the Philippines.

1992: WIth the improved peace and order situation in the country, domestic tourism gained improved traction. More destinations in the provinces opened up for the increasing number of Filipino travelers.

1994: The Department of Tourism launched the "Bring Home a Friend" campaign, which emphasized the country's natural beauty and cultural heritage and the influence of millions of Filipinos scattered in many countries to convince their foreign friends to visit the Philippines. The campaign was successful in attracting more foreign tourists.

1996: Entry of Cebu Pacific and eventual introduction of low-cost carriers in the Philippines. The “Piso” fare campaign of the LCCs almost immediately helped explode the number of domestic tourists in the Philippines.

1997: The Asian financial crisis had a negative impact on tourism in the Philippines, as many foreign tourists cut back on travel. But compared to many other Asian countries whose travel industry was greatly affected, the Philippines did not suffer severely because foreign tourism was not yet a major economic sector in the country. Further, the growth of the domestic market greatly cushioned the impact of the financial crisis. Perhaps the Filipinos were already used to crises that another one did not bother them with their travel plans.

2000: The government launched the "Philippines 2000" tourism campaign, which aimed to attract more high-end tourists to the country. The campaign was successful, with tourist arrivals reaching over two million.

2006: The Department of Tourism launched the "WOW Philippines" campaign, which focused on the country's diverse tourist destinations and unique experiences.

2007: The Holiday Economics was launched. A government program wherein workers would have the chance to have long holidays which allowed them to take longer vacations. No-work holidays that fall on a weekend or Thursday and Tuesday would mean that the paid no-work day would be implemented on a monday or friday. Coupled with the “piso fare” of the low cost carriers, this program proved to be another major influencer of the growth of domestic tourism.

2013: Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the central part of the Philippines, including many popular tourist destinations such as Boracay and Palawan.

2016: The new government administration launched the "It's More Fun in the Philippines" campaign, which highlighted the country's friendly people, unique culture, and natural attractions.

2017 - 2019: Domestic travelers became an undeniable major force in the tourism industry with more than one trillion pesos of economic redistribution happening in the country in 2019. Many local governments fully adopted tourism as an opportunity for economic growth. Many have even prioritized tourism as their banner program in improving the economic status of their areas.

2020: Taal Volcano erupted greatly disrupted tourism in the country.

Then the pandemic happened. The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on tourism in the Philippines, with tourist arrivals dropping by over 80% compared to the previous year. The tourism industry was basically at a stand still which lasted for more than two years. Many tourism businesses, including some large hotels were forced to shut down.

2023: Covid-19 seeming to be finally under control. Health and travel restrictions were lifted and destinations started opening their borders. Tourism businesses and stakeholders started picking themselves up with the hope that the travel prior to the pandemic would return the soonest.

This is actually just scratching the surface. There are so many other events that I have failed to include. But at least, we got to get a good glimpse of the travel industry in the Philippines and the challenges that punched it in the face. Let’s hope that everything will become great, eventually.

Also, please keep in mind that while most of the info can easily be found online, a number of them were based on my personal observations when i used to work as a research officer of the Department of Tourism, an academician, and a tourism planning resource person. And I can tell you that it’s really more fun in the Philippines.