The Philippines Is Still Worth a Visit, Says World Travel Index

While it’s not exactly the safest country in the world for tourists, the Philippines is still a “good” destination to visit this year.

The World Travel Index (WTI) ranked the Philippines 34th among 193 countries, earning an overall score of 76.31 out of a total 100 points. “The Philippines offers a vibrant tropical paradise with stunning beaches and rich culture,” said WTI in the “vibe” description of the country.  “You will find some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, with powdery white sand and crystal-clear waters. Each island offers a unique experience, from the lively shores of Boracay to the serene beaches of Palawan.” In fact, Boracay Island ranked 24th among WTI’s Best Islands in Asia, with a score of 80.42 points.

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How the Philippines ranks in terms of ‘vibe’

WTI is a travel guide founded in 2020 that collects over 1,200 data points to give the best advice for its members on destinations to visit. It boasts over 100,000 subscribers in the world.

The site also cited the Philippines’ relative affordability, which earned a score of 87.13 points. This helped push the country’s ranking to 25th among the cheapest countries to travel. It estimates travel costs per day in the Philippines at around US$80 (P4,560) per person or roughly $600 (P34,200) per person (excluding transfer) for a one-week vacation.

It’s More Fun in the Philippines

The Philippines also scored high on the “fun” scale with a score of 77.51 points, ranking it 65th in the world. The site cited a selection from around 5,200 activities and guided tours, and about 4,200 attractions tourists can choose from, without guided tours.

It named the top five best free activities in the country: Rizal Park, Intramuros, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Burnham Park, and the Sinulog Festival Street Dancing. With this, WTI said a visit to the Philippines is “worth it,” earning a score of 83.24 points, and ranking 36th among 193 countries.

This, despite the country scoring poorly on safety, at 58.26 points, which lowered its rank to 96 out of the 193 countries reviewed. The safety metric was measured using Numbeo and the World Bank rankings as references, as well as “artificial intelligence-assisted analysis,” including exchanges on Reddit and Quora.

“The Philippines has both safe and less safe areas,” said the travel guide, and underscored “scams” as the most common complaint among visitors: “overpriced tricycle rides, fake tour guides, currency exchange scams, timeshare presentations, and overcharging street vendors” as the top five scams in the country.

The World Travel Index rates ‘scams’ as the worst safety risk in the Philippines, citing inputs from locals and from tourists.

WTI gave a relatively satisfactory assessment of violence-related and criminal incidents in the country, although the information didn’t include the recent complaints on killings and muggings in Metro Manila that have prompted travel advisories from foreign governments.

Best Cities to Visit in the Philippines

In June, Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said in a conference of hotel sales and marketing professionals that the perception that the Philippines isn’t safe has turned off foreign tourists from visiting.

In his keynote remarks at the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association’s (HSMA) Sales and Marketing Summit, Remulla said, “I truly believe that we have a beautiful country [and] we have the best people in hospitality all over the world. But why are [foreign tourists] not coming here? I have to admit it is our fault. It is the government’s fault. It is the Interior Secretary’s fault. People do not want to come to the country because they don’t feel safe. They are afraid. There is cynicism in all the bad news that goes on here, and in the political atmosphere, and killing seems an ordinary activity, [so] people become afraid.”

Last year, the Philippines only attracted 5.95 million international visitors, falling short of the government’s target of 7.7 million.

Meanwhile, Davao City topped the WTI ranking of the “best cities” to visit in the Philippines, having earned a score of 75.48 points. It was followed by Makati City, with a score of 73.83 points; Puerto Princesa, 73.57; Dumaguete, 73.23; Baguio 72.75; Cebu City, 72.55; Iloilo, 70.39; Manila, 68.43; Legazpi City, 68.31; and Lapu-Lapu City, 68.09.

WTI explained that among the data points it gathers to determine a destination’s ranking include the prices of overnight stays (Booking databases/price search engines), Restaurant and shopping prices (Numbeo), Car rental prices (car rental provider databases), Gas station prices (local and regional price databases), Attractions (Geographical location radius search/AI-assisted analysis of the most mentioned attractions across the whole internet), Security, and Infrastructure (Geographical location radius search/World Bank).

Overall, the WTI’s top 10 best countries in the world to visit this year are: Japan with a score of 86.65 points, China 83.52, Portugal 83.20, Croatia 82.14, Spain 82.10, Thailand 81.87, Poland 81.70, Czech Republic 81.26, Georgia 81.14, and South Korea 80.95