Philippines

I'm not ashamed to say that I called it. I'm actually surprised that the Philippines topped its neighbors in terms of economic impact (not that we should focus on comparing ourselves with others). If you think about it, that's what people are worried about with the country's low arrival numbers. Low arrivals = no money. Turns out, that's an incomplete understanding on how tourism works.

The Philippines's tourism model is that of Palau and Maldives in steroids. I can't imagine those two smaller island nations attaining Thailand-like arrival numbers without wrecking their ecosystem... which brings me to the all-too-real flaws of the country's model.

Part of the economic impact is because it's too bloody expensive for a portion of Filipinos to visit and stay locally. Why? To summarize: large demand, low supply. The "natural beauty" destinations can only support so many people. If the DOT wants millions more of tourists, they need to make the cities more attractive like Tokyo and the European capitals. Too bad the current secretary would rather promote herself.

The source says 70% of the international visitors are repeat customers. If the infrastructure deteriorates, these money flowing in will vanish once we run repel repeat visitors and run out out of first-time visitors willing to pay.