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^^ I still think the reason they wont come aside from poor promotions and ads is the purchasing power. Why Koreans, Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese tourist are plenty in the Phils? Probably because ordinary people from those countries can afford a Philippine escapade which can be very difficult for ordinary Indonesians,Malaysians,Thais. There could be some but it would be the upper class or the upper middle- income but not much.
Also a matter of geography. The Philippines is the closest tropical country from Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Likewise, Filipinos who are watching Korean dramas and listening to Gangnam Style would prioritize visiting Seoul instead of Bali. Both are a 4-hour flight from Manila, but more Filipinos will choose to go to Korea instead of Indonesia due to this KPOP fad. Australians go more to Bali because it is closer to them.
^ He was talking about Koreans visiting the Philippines. Over 1 million visit each year, and something like 125,000 live in the Philippines. A lot more Koreans visit the Philippines than Filipinos visit Korea. I think a lot more Filipinos visit or live in Japan than Korea.
^^I was talking abt fellow Southeast Asians and the factors why the tourist visiting Phils coming from this SEA neighbors are very low to think they are much more proximate than the East Asians(except Taiwan), while numbers are higher for Filipinos visiting their countries.
Most common complaint from Filipinos who had been to Indonesia is the horrendous traffic, both in Jakarta and Bali. They'll say they went on vacation to escape such traffic jams only to experience exactly the same thing as what is available at home.
Lol traffic in Bali is a breeze compared to Jakarta, but i love the Balinese cultural scene (especially the countrysides and traditional villages which is absolutely stunning and very interesting) and sometimes make me wish that parts of Java is predominantly Hindus, so that we may have more of this places out of Bali. Jakarta is more into food, luxurious big shopping malls, nightlife and Dutch colonial history, but i think Filipinos already have huge shopping malls, good nightlife and Singapore for luxury shopping so Jakarta isn't that much of an interest for Filipinos. (unless you are colonial history freak like i am)
Despite its crazy traffic a lot of Indonesians from other province who do visit Jakarta, ended up loving it, can't say the same for foreign tourist however.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neMarL
^^ I still think the reason they wont come aside from poor promotions and ads is the purchasing power. Why Koreans, Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese tourist are plenty in the Phils? Probably because ordinary people from those countries can afford a Philippine escapade which can be very difficult for ordinary Indonesians,Malaysians,Thais. There could be some but it would be the upper class or the upper middle- income but not much.
2 million Indonesians travelled to Singapore and Malaysia respectively, they also contribute a lot in luxury good sales in both country, so no Indonesians (and Thais who flocks to Japan and especially Malaysians who traveled a lot to Indonesia)do have the money to travel but Philippines is just not that attractive to the neighbor's view. But i do notice that Boracay receive quiet loads of Malaysian tourist's attention.
Note that Indonesia is a country with 250 million people and a largely increasing middle class and elites, so the number of Indonesian tourist regionally have been growing rapidly, but only 47k of them decided to go to the Philippines. Well another factor that can be considered is geographical location (as Postman said), since the climate is almost similar what Phil offer is also available in Indonesia (beaches, rice terrace, volcanoes etc are abundance in Indonesia, in some cases better)
And of course Malaysia-Indonesia-Thailand have all the easiest access to budget airlines such as lion air or airasia for travels.
Malacca, ahhh brings back memory i love walking around the town and food hunting in streets, but its nothing comparable to penand and somewhat dissapointing because its grossly too commercialized (and the funny ugly windmill trying to resemble netherland?). People keep telling e about its dutch history but i just plain find nothing dutch or portuguese about the city. And the temples there is nothing impressive compared to penang.
And err isnt malacca originally Malay settlement rather than European settlement originally.
Yes it was a sultanate, but I guess like Temasak/Singapura I was more referring to modern post-colonial Malacca.
Yes it was a sultanate, but I guess like Temasak/Singapura I was more referring to modern post-colonial Malacca.
Yeah i suppose it is quiet unfortunate that Malacca lost almost all of its pre-colonial traces, but it might be because it wasn't that much of a major settlement before that the later colonial settlement quickly replaced it..
You really have to visit before concluding. Philiipines is a country of its own in Asia, if there is anything similar with Malaysia & Phils,its the people looking somewhat similar but the rest I dont see any similarity, so that "combined Thai & Phils" is not true. Any country similar to the Phils its I think New Zealand which is your neighbor, at least in natures bounty. If there is anything what you call natural beauty,rainforest in Malaysia I would think its mostly located in Sabah, which is still being contested as part of Philippine territory. And I dont think there is what you call more developed food/culture. It all boils down to personal preference. Personally, I would like to try their food to check if they really are good to my taste. Malaysia with better English than Phils? Well, I think I wouldnt say anything at all but I reckon its very obvious
How is the Phils more like NZ than Indonesia or Malaysia?? That's a strange statement. Philippines and Indonesia are both tropical archipelagos with very similar flora/fauna...NZ is nothing alike. Dunno how you came up with that comparison.
The peninsula Malaysia too, Taman Negara, Royal Belum etc...the Philippines don't have tigers, leopards, tapirs, elephants, rhinos now do they?
Food is no contest. Malaysian is often considered among or the best cuisine in Southeast Asia. Along with Thai it just blows away Filipino food.
Yes, Malaysia has more first language English speakers than the Philippines and is probably on par or better in English.
^^ I still think the reason they wont come aside from poor promotions and ads is the purchasing power. Why Koreans, Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese tourist are plenty in the Phils? Probably because ordinary people from those countries can afford a Philippine escapade which can be very difficult for ordinary Indonesians,Malaysians,Thais. There could be some but it would be the upper class or the upper middle- income but not much.
Well there's less incentive for Malaysians or Indonesians to visit the Phils because it's so similar.
Also a matter of geography. The Philippines is the closest tropical country from Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Likewise, Filipinos who are watching Korean dramas and listening to Gangnam Style would prioritize visiting Seoul instead of Bali. Both are a 4-hour flight from Manila, but more Filipinos will choose to go to Korea instead of Indonesia due to this KPOP fad. Australians go more to Bali because it is closer to them.
Well the Philippines isn't much further or as close to the east coast but for some reason, there's less to attract people. The food's not as good, the culture less interesting (not as exotic as Asian I suppose) and it's more dangerous than Bali or Thailand.
Lol traffic in Bali is a breeze compared to Jakarta, but i love the Balinese cultural scene (especially the countrysides and traditional villages which is absolutely stunning and very interesting) and sometimes make me wish that parts of Java is predominantly Hindus, so that we may have more of this places out of Bali. Jakarta is more into food, luxurious big shopping malls, nightlife and Dutch colonial history, but i think Filipinos already have huge shopping malls, good nightlife and Singapore for luxury shopping so Jakarta isn't that much of an interest for Filipinos. (unless you are colonial history freak like i am)
Despite its crazy traffic a lot of Indonesians from other province who do visit Jakarta, ended up loving it, can't say the same for foreign tourist however.
2 million Indonesians travelled to Singapore and Malaysia respectively, they also contribute a lot in luxury good sales in both country, so no Indonesians (and Thais who flocks to Japan and especially Malaysians who traveled a lot to Indonesia)do have the money to travel but Philippines is just not that attractive to the neighbor's view. But i do notice that Boracay receive quiet loads of Malaysian tourist's attention.
Note that Indonesia is a country with 250 million people and a largely increasing middle class and elites, so the number of Indonesian tourist regionally have been growing rapidly, but only 47k of them decided to go to the Philippines. Well another factor that can be considered is geographical location (as Postman said), since the climate is almost similar what Phil offer is also available in Indonesia (beaches, rice terrace, volcanoes etc are abundance in Indonesia, in some cases better)
And of course Malaysia-Indonesia-Thailand have all the easiest access to budget airlines such as lion air or airasia for travels.
Yes Indonesia has nice beaches, tropical rainforests, volcanoes. Only thing the Philippines offers is a Catholic Asian country.
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