ASEAN tourism ministers are looking to regional travelers and emerging destinations to help sustain tourism activity as volatile energy prices threaten to raise transport costs and weigh on long-haul travel demand.
At the Second ASEAN Tourism Ministers’ Retreat in Manila on Sept. 29, ministers agreed to strengthen intra-ASEAN travel and increase promotion of second- and third-tier destinations as the region prepares for potential disruptions linked to Middle East tensions and energy-market volatility.
Ministers said higher aviation fuel and transportation costs could affect air connectivity, travel demand, tourism businesses and investment, while putting pressure on the competitiveness of ASEAN destinations.
The strategy gives greater importance to the region’s large pool of intra-ASEAN travelers, which could provide an alternative source of demand if higher travel costs reduce arrivals from more distant markets.
The ministers also called for closer coordination with ASEAN bodies overseeing energy and transport, recognizing that tourism performance is closely linked to fuel costs, infrastructure and regional connectivity.
The Manila retreat advanced a Philippine proposal for ASEAN Tourism Intelligence, a regional initiative aimed at strengthening data collection, analytics and demand forecasting.
National tourism organizations were tasked to study the proposal and recommend next steps. Better regional data could help tourism authorities identify shifts in travel demand and respond more quickly to disruptions.
ASEAN will also review and update the ASEAN Tourism Agreement to reflect changes in digitalization, sustainability, connectivity and traveler expectations.
The bloc is separately developing an investment outlook designed to identify sustainable, resilient and investment-ready tourism projects.
The initiatives form part of the implementation of the ASEAN Tourism Sectoral Plan 2026–2030, which sets the region’s tourism priorities for the next five years.
For tourism businesses, the measures point to a broader effort to strengthen regional demand and destination diversification while improving the sector’s ability to respond to external shocks.
