DOT proposes Asean visa to boost tourism

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

May 19, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) has formally submitted a proposal for the establishment of a single-entry visa covering all member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), aiming to simplify cross-border travel and strengthen regional tourism.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco raised the proposal at the SKIFT Asia Forum in Bangkok on Thursday, envisioning a scheme modeled after Europe’s Schengen arrangement and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s unified visa.

The initiative is designed to align with ASEAN Tourism’s tagline, “A destination for every dream,” by presenting the bloc as a seamless travel destination.

According to the DOT, an ASEAN-wide visa would not only facilitate freer movement of tourists across Southeast Asia’s diverse cultural and natural attractions but also reinforce regional unity while preserving competitive dynamics among member-countries.

The proposal is expected to be revisited in greater detail when the Philippines assumes the ASEAN chairmanship and hosts the bloc’s 2026 summit.

“The ASEAN visa certainly is part of that dream. To be able to unify the ASEAN as a destination in terms of the strength of its natural assets, its unparalleled warmth and hospitality as a people, and as a culture, and in terms of the quality of experiences that we are able to offer, is one that is aspirational for us in the Philippines,” Frasco said at the forum.

“And as a minister of tourism, it is a proposition that I have tried to make at every opportunity,” she noted.

“I am glad to hear similar interest from our fellow ASEAN nations, and we are very hopeful that the subject matter will again come up as the Philippines hosts the ASEAN in 2026,” she said.

Meanwhile, Frasco also acknowledged that Chinese tourist arrivals to the Philippines have declined in recent years, due to various factors.

In response, the DOT has been diversifying its source markets.

The agency has been targeting travelers from the Middle East, the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe.

The agency has also introduced several initiatives.

Among those initiatives are  halal-friendly accreditation programs and a “Two Countries, One Destination” tourism cooperation memorandum with Thailand.

The memorandum hopes to broaden appeal to new visitor segments.