The Philippines has signed a five-year tourism cooperation deal with neighbouring Thailand, a nation mulling legalising casinos. The Philippines is one of the few jurisdictions in Asia to have an extensive casino industry with unrestricted access for locals, as well as foreigners.
The governments of both countries view gaming as one route to boosting inbound visitor volume and spending.
The Philippines received circa 5.44 million foreign tourists in full-year 2024, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier, but well below a 7.7 million target it had set in December the previous year.
Thailand provided its neighbour about 45,896 visitors in full-year 2024, representing under 1.0 percent of all arrivals to the Philippines. The figure nonetheless rose by 12.1 percent from 2023.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand said at the end of December that its international tourist arrivals for 2024 had “surpassed” a 35-million target, generating over THB1.8 trillion (US$52.9 billion) in tourism revenue.
The new Philippines-Thailand agreement – signed on Sunday – covers the years 2025 to 2030, and includes “travel facilitation” between the two nations.
The year 2030 has been mentioned by some investment analysts as a possible time frame for Thailand to open its first casino resort, if the necessary legislation and regulation can be completed this year, following the cabinet’s approval of a bill last week.
The bilateral tourism arrangement was formally concluded by Sorawong Thienthong (pictured, left), Thailand’s minister of tourism and sports; and Christina Garcia Frasco (pictured, right) the Philippines’ tourism secretary.
Ms Frasco was cited as saying in a press release issued by her department: “For the Philippines, this collaboration provides an exciting opportunity to tap into Thailand’s remarkable success in attracting visitors, particularly in areas such as cultural tourism and medical tourism.”
She added: “In return, Thailand stands to gain from the Philippine expertise in hospitality, where we have earned a reputation for excellence.”
Mr Thienthong thanked his counterpart for the memorandum of understanding, which would involve “exchanging our knowledge and technology”. He added: “We are looking forward to working with the Philippines.”
Other areas covered by the deal include: exchange of information on best practice on issues such as sustainable tourism, cultural heritage tourism, and tourism product development; professional training for the sector; exchange programmes for officials; and joint tourism promotions and marketing.
The agreement is known formally as the “Implementation Program of the Agreement on Cooperation on Tourism,” and stems from a bilateral mechanism dating back to 1993.
The Philippine government allocated about PHP7.70 billion (US$131.5 million) for the upgrade of 15 airports across the country under this year’s budget.
