Philippines seeks cooperation to boost tourism in ASEANASEAN’S BIGGEST TRAVEL EVENT AT MACTAN EXPO: The Philippines officially opened the Asean Travel Exchange, the biggest travel event for Asean member countries, at the newly opened Mactan Expo, an iconic convention center that is close to the beach, built by property giant Megaworld at The Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. TRAVEX, which will run until Jan. 30, is one of the major events under the Asean Tourism Forum being hosted in Cebu, and is attended by tourism ministers, industry organizations, senior officials, exhibitors, business delegates and media from Asean countries. Buensuceso led the 63rd ASEAN National Tourism Organizations Meeting in Cebu City on Monday, which gathered senior tourism officials from ASEAN and other partner countries. Based on the tally from the Bureau of Immigration, the Philippines welcomed a total of 6,484,060 foreign tourists – composed of 5,940,975 foreigners and 543,085 Filipinos living overseas – in 2025. With the Philippines hosting both the ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Cebu this year, member-states are expected to meet with tourism officials from Australia, India, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

Source: Philippine Star January 28, 2026 16:17 UTC