Tourism and Hospitality Industry News Updates brought to you by MY RANGGO for the week ending 5 December 2025.
Industry News Headlines:
- DOT Courts Korea Anew
- Grounded Philippine Airbus Planes Cause Chaos
- Terminal 1 OFW Lounge Opens
- NAIA To Introduce Biometric Immigration eGates
- Low Cost Direct Australia Flight Launches
- Davao Food and Wine Festival 2025
- Busy November For Tourism Promotions Board
- Asia’s Emerging Travel Trends 2026
- Traveller Report 2026 Highlights Changing Behaviors
- Japan’s 30 Year Baggage Record
- Two Airlines Partner with OpenAI
- Is Uber Entering The Tourism Industry?
DOT Courts Korea Anew
It’s no secret that the number of South Korean’s arriving in the Philippines has dropped significantly in 2025, after issued warnings of a “deteriorating crime situation”.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the South Korean Embassy issued multiple safety notices in the first quarter of this year, advising citizens to be careful when visiting the Philippines. In two weeks alone, back in May 2025, the Embassy issued three warnings – almost back-to-back – after three kidnappings for ransom cases targeting its citizens.
To counter-effect this drop in arrivals and to try to reignite Korean interest in the Philippines as a vacation destination, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) and Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) held a pop-up event in Gangnam, South Korea, between 21-23 November.
Working with the PDOT Korea Office the “Love the Philippines. Sun Meets Seoul” immersive pop-up event took place in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam.
A leaked surprise visit by Seo In-Guk, the Philippine Tourism Ambassador for Korea, and celebrity Lee Yubi, did much to boost crowd numbers to the three-day event, especially among millennial and Gen Z Koreans.
Destinations showcased included Bohol, Boracay, Cebu and Siargao, alongside the chance to try some Philippine Coffee over traditional Pinoy games like sungka and sipa.
Grounded Philippine Airbus Planes Cause Chaos
Thousands of Airbus Planes were grounded in the Philippines, and around the world, on 29th November causing flight delays and cancellations.
An Airworthiness Directive (AD) was issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), requiring all Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft to undergo urgent software repair. The Airbus A320 is one of the most popular short-haul planes for aviation businesses and there are more than 6,000 of them in service.
Back in October 2025 an A320 experienced a sudden drop in altitude, which resulted in an emergency landing. Having investigated that incident, Airbus learned that solar radiation had interfered with the software, and corrupted critical data related to flight controls.
The repair required a revert back to an earlier software version, estimated to take between 3-4 hours.
Travellers with flights via AirAsia, Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific were affected. Ninoy Aquino International Airport experienced 13 flight cancellations and a total of 206 delays. Mactan-Cebu International Airport experienced 2 flight cancellations and 49 delays.
Cebu Pacific released a statement mid-day on the 30th November informing the public that updates on their A320/A321 fleet had been completed. International and Domestic passengers affected were offered flexible options, including free rebooking or conversion to the Travel Fund, via the Manage Booking portal on the CEB website.
AirAsia passengers were advised they would be directly notified via email and SMS on delays, cancellations and flight schedule adjustments. They were advised to stay updated via AirAsia’s MOVE app.
Philippine Airlines confirmed that their fleet completed the “upgrades’ at around 7pm on the 29th November, and said they would be working to normalize flight schedules as quickly as possible. Passengers were asked to check their flight status via the PAL website/Flight status section.
Terminal 1 OFW Lounge Opens
A vastly improved OFW Lounge officially opened at NAIA Terminal 1, on 1st December 2025.
Offering complimentary snacks and beverages, along with rest areas, charging stations and a secure baggage storage room, the lounge is open 24/7. It is hoped that the lounge design and amenities will convey a sense of appreciation to the thousands of OFW’s leaving Manila to work abroad.
The Lounge has been fully funded by the New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC). The very first OFW lounge was opened in July 2024 at NAIA Terminal 3.
NAIA To Introduce Biometric Immigration eGates
New Biometric Immigration eGates will come online at NAIA Terminals 1 and 3, in December 2025. It is expected that they will be fully operational in early 2026.
The eGates are predicted to reduce congestion at arrival halls and streamline verification procedures for people arriving in the Philippines.
The introduction of these eGates are part of NAIA’s Digital Transformation Strategy and planned modernization of airport services. Their introduction will bring the Philippines in line with other global airports, and ensure accurate identity matching and arrival records, as well as enhance security and the identification of “undesirable” visitors.
Developed by company Amadeus, and equipped with advanced passport scanning and facial recognition systems, the eGates will be operated and overseen by the Bureau of Immigration.
Low-Cost Direct Australia Flight Launches
Airline, Jetstar, launched its first direct low cost, seven hour flight route from Perth, Australia to Manila this week. The inaugural flight landed in NAIA T3 on Friday 28 November.
So far, more than 200,000 Australian’s have visited the Philippines in 2025, making Australia the fifth-ranking tourism source-market. With this second low-cost direct flight option out of Perth, it is hoped that arrival figures will continue to rise.
Flights have a 232 seat capacity and will operate three times a week on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, leaving Perth at 21.00 p.m (9pm). Flights from Manila to Perth leave NAIA T3 at 5:35 a.m and arrive in Perth at 1:00p.m.
Passengers on the very first flight received a complimentary Jetstar “I Love The Philippines” T-shirt and were greeted in Manila with Filipino performances.
Davao Food and Wine Festival 2025
The Davao Food and Wine Festival 2025 was held at Dusit Thani Residence Davao, on November 29. This is the third year of the Festival which aims to highlight local ingredients and talents, and amplify Davao City’s push toward wider culinary recognition globally.
“The Kitchen Arena: Chef Battle” Competition held on the 29th November – the last event of the Festival – saw Chefs’ Andrew Malarkey (Wild Siargao), Jeramie Go (Pilgrim), Ferdinand “Dinan” Recaborda (Dusit Davao) and Rhea Rizzo (Mrs. Saldo’s and Little Miss Saldo’s) cooking head to head in a 60-minute live cooking showdown.
Each of the chef’s were required to also prepare a Tasting Stage for guests to experience alongside their wine and cocktails.
The concept behind The Kitchen Arena Chef Battle involves a two-dish timed challenge, using specialty equipment that is determined by draws. The third element of the competition – the “Secret Black Box” – contains three ingredients the chef’s need to use in their creations.
This year the Secret Black Box contained Odong (Visayan noodle), fresh Surigao crabs and Malagos cheese. The contents of the Box are not revealed until just before the competition begins.
Three guests panelists judged the dishes prepared – president of Davao Tourism Association Nicole Hao Bian-Ledesma, JC Lo (food columnist), and Pepper Teehankee, a respected travel and food writer. The competition was emceed by Kyle Jennerman, aka Becoming Filipino.
Chef Rhea was announced as Kitchen Arena Champion, with Chef Andrew Malarkey winning the Crowd Choice Award.
Busy November For Tourism Promotions Board
November 2025 was a busy month internationally for the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines (TPB), with four key events or Expo’s.
4-6 November – TPB delegates attended The World Travel Market 2025, held in London.
Boasting a 330-square-meter stand designed to take visitors on a multisensory journey through Philippines islands, there was also opportunity to try coffee from Batangas, Benguet and Davao, and experience a hilot massage.
Each day the stand featured a dance and music performance from the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group.
The World Travel Market is considered one of the world’s most influential travel and tourism events, and is held annually.
7-9 November – The International Tourism & Travel Show (ITTS) 2025, in Montreal Canada, saw PHP43.4M in Sales Leads generated.
Visitors to the show were enticed to consider the Philippines through interactive destination presentations, and cuisine showcases.
11-14 November – The DEMA Show. A delegation, including 18 Dive Tour Businesses, attended the DEMA Show 2025, in Florida.
268 appointments/meetings were conducted in total during the 4-day Expo, resulting in P360million in Sales Leads. The TPB sees this outcome as highlighting a strong interest in the Philippines as a dive destination among Americans.
The DEMA Show is the worlds largest annual trade-only event for companies and businesses operating in the scuba diving, ocean water sports and adventure/dive travel industries.
21-23 November – Saw the 3-day “Love the Philippines. Sun Meets Seoul” event in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam, South Korea, which we covered earlier in this update.
Global Industry News
Asia’s Emerging Travel Trends 2026
Agoda has released its 2026 Travel Outlook Report this week which spotlights Asia as a leading driver of new travel trends and behaviours.
Key Findings Include:
- Searches for accommodation in Secondary cities across Asia has grown 15% faster than searches for accommodation in renowned tourism hotspots.
- Secondary destinations accounted for 34% of total (Agoda) accommodation searches.
- 43% of those surveyed gave lower costs as their top reason to explore secondary destinations. Unique local culture, special promotions, and outdoor activities also factored highly in the decision.
- More Asians (35%) expect to travel “mostly domestically”, compared to only 15% in 2024.
- Only 24% of Asian’s expect to travel “mostly internationally”, compared to 52% in 2024.
- 63% of Asian travellers have said they are likely to use AI when planning their next trip.
The study indicates that the adoption of technology innovations, streamlined visa and travel processes, and the expansion of flight routes across Asia is encouraging visitors to travel further afield to “secondary” destinations, in the pursuit of value for money, adventure and culturally-rich experiences.
All fit nicely into the Philippines Department of Tourism’s plans and strategy.
Traveller Report 2026 Highlights Changing Behaviors
SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2026 highlights a shift in traveler’s Discovery through to Purchase journey’s.
26% of travelers now start their hotel research (Discovery Stage) on an OTA platform. Previously the preferred channel for this had been Search Engines, which has dropped to 21% of travellers.
Hotels discovered by word-of-mouth has increased to 14%.
And the use of AI at the Discovery Stage has also increased almost 4x on last years report results.
18% of travelers who started researching their vacation on an OTA will go on to book directly with their chosen hotel, as they seek better control, service and inclusions.
Another interesting response from the travellers surveyed is that 37% of people “Agree” with Dynamic Pricing – when demand drives the price – And 28% of people “Strongly Agree”
Japan’s 30 Year Baggage Record
Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Japan has maintained a 3-decade strong record – not a single lost suitcase or bag!
As a country known for having re-written business operations and strategies – and for embracing and adapting new technologies – after WWII, this 30 year achievement should come as no surprise.
This feat is attributed to investing in high-level personnel training, manually verifying every bag, cross-checking and counting baggage on every flight, and custom handling procedures.
All of which also helps the airport achieve another goal – that all luggage is delivered to the carousel within 15 minutes of the plane landing!
The airport has won Skytrax’s Best Airport for Baggage Delivery eight times.
Tech Industry News Updates
Two Airlines Partner with OpenAI
Virgin Australia and Emirates have each agreed a deal with OpenAI this week.
Virgin Australia, which has previously trialed its own AI-powered Trip Planner, will use the OpenAI platform to build an AI-powered flight search, and trip planning tool.
The company will also be rolling-out AI tools internally with the aim of streamlining and improving workflows, operational efficiency and improving customer service.
Emirates deal with OpenAI focuses more on internal company efficiencies, and the development of an AI Center of Excellence. They aim to embed AI tools across customer-facing, operational and commercial functions, and will implement company‑wide AI literacy programmes to support this.
Is Uber Entering The Tourism Industry?
Uber recently posted hiring opportunities that might suggest an expansion into the travel industry.
The job listings, under their Uber AI Solutions arm, are specifically searching for Certified Travel Agents, Destination Planners and Tour Operators. The Uber AI Solutions division is an arm of the company that provides AI and data-services, to Uber and other businesses.
Rafat Ali, CEO and Founder of Skift – a travel industry media and business intelligence company – spotted the postings, which describe the role as being for “a new client project at the frontier of Generative AI.”
Uber AI Solutions is seeking applications from people with experience in
- Booking systems
- International regulations
- Delay re-routings
- Multi-stop logistics
- Identifying travel rules and availability AI errors on
Ali suggests that Uber Ai Solutions has a contract “to build training data and evaluation benchmarks for an AI travel agent”. The question is for who?
