ASEAN Launches Tourism Sectoral Plan 2026-2030
On January 29, ASEAN formally signed the Declaration on the Implementation of the ASEAN Tourism Sectoral Plan 2026-2030 in Cebu, Philippines. Succeeding the previous 2016-2025 plan, the new roadmap is built around five key pillars:
Resilient tourism: aimed at safeguarding sector growth against future shocks, such as pandemics, climate-related events, or economic disruptions.
Tourism workforce empowerment: focused on raising service standards, productivity, and innovation.
Accessible and seamless travel: strengthening air and sea connectivity to bolster intra-ASEAN travel.
Digital tourism development: leveraging technology to enhance destination visibility and conversion across global markets.
Sustainable tourism: ensuring that growth remains environmentally, socially, and economically viable over the long term.
A central objective of the plan is to market ASEAN as a unified tourism destination, encouraging travelers to visit multiple countries in a single journey. Policymakers expect this approach to increase average length of stay, per-visitor spending, and repeat travel within the region. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), which co-developed the plan alongside the ASEAN Secretariat, has committed more than USD 4 billion to tourism-related projects and maintains a USD 3 billion investment pipeline through 2030.
Tourism remains a critical economic pillar for Southeast Asia. In 2024, the sector generatedclose to USD 400 billion, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the region's GDP and supporting approximately 42.5 million jobs. Last year, the region welcomed 144 million international visitors, representing a 13.4 percent year-on-year increase, with nearly 48 million of those travelers coming from within ASEAN itself.
