Philippine DOT criticism – is it fair or unfair?
During the last weeks of 2025 and the start of 2026, Netizens and Travel Influencers took to social media to criticize both the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT), and the DOT Secretary, Christina Garcia Frasco.
The DOT criticism has focused on:–
- The lack of destination promotion on the Philippine DOT’s Facebook Page
- The visibility of the DOT Secretary on the DOT Facebook Page (and front page of a magazine publication)
- The Low International Visitor numbers for 2025 compared to Asian neighbors, and previous years
- The number of overseas junkets attended by the DOT Secretary and Officers,
- The use of expensive Conference Halls for Expo’s that price-out small businesses and enterprise vendors
- The high cost of internal/domestic flights
- The high cost of accommodation – and the low standards of accommodation, and service, for that price – in comparison to Thailand and Vietnam.
- The price of tours and activities
- The price of food in restaurants and bars
- The number of fees added to everything, hiking up final vacation costs
Philippine DOT criticism – is it fair or unfair?
We’re falling on the side of mostly unfair criticism, and below is why (and no, we haven’t been paid to write this article!).
The Philippine Department of Tourism Facebook Page – As a Tourism Marketing Tool
Much of the DOT criticism points to the types and frequency of posts shared on its Facebook account. That there are too many posts about the activities of the DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, and not enough posts promoting destinations and tourist spots.
The argument given by many netizens is that tourists land on the page looking for inspiration for must-see places to visit, not to see what the DOT Secretary has been up to.
But it is a government department account. And Christina Garcia Frasco is the current DOT Secretary.
Frasco is keeping the Philippine people informed of what is being done by the Department, and what work is being undertaken with local government, stakeholders, and hospitality and tourism businesses, to deliver the Philippine Tourism Strategy.
This includes who Secretary Frasco and other officers are meeting with, what alliances and partnerships are being formed with LGU’s, and other countries tourism departments. What new tourism services and facilities are being launched, and the forums, seminars and Expo’s being held, or attended, to promote the country.
It seems that Secretary Frasco is working really hard to pull in all the people and expertise, the assistance and support, that is needed to improve services and infrastructure, expand tourism and deliver on what is being promoted as the selling points of this country:- food, heritage, culture, beautiful islands and beaches.
Maybe that seems futile or too late to some people. But it would be impossible to hoist the Philippines up to the levels of accessibility, recognition and attraction that Thailand, Vietnam or Bali currently hold, without gathering up the Philippines’ key players, and getting them on board and playing their part to bring that about.
And that’s not going to happen overnight. It will be a slow, steady process as stakeholders align and contribute.
The Philippines DOT Facebook page is quite possibly the most transparent of all the government accounts. Everything that is going on to build the tourism industry up is promoted in the feed.
We agree that there could be confusion for tourists who land on the account looking for inspiration, but that would be momentary. Social Media has been around for decades now, we all pretty much know how Facebook works!
It’s pretty obvious that it’s a Government Department Page! And right at the top of that page – in the Intro Section – is a link to the destination account – The Philippines.
It could perhaps benefit from an adjustment to the wording to “Follow our destination marketing page” for greater clarity …. or for anyone who is new to Facebook!
The Philippine Department of Tourism Facebook Page – As a “Vanity Project”:
Some accuse the DOT Secretary of “grandstanding” or using the DOT Facebook account as her own vanity project. They argue that she should only share those posts on her own Facebook page.
But the position of DOT Secretary isn’t a permanent role.
Officers change and to have them only post updates on their own account means fractured and dissipated news and details when a new person steps into the role.
If anything, if the posts were only shared to the Secretary’s personal page that could be considered a vanity project!
When Secretary Frasco moves on from the Department of Tourism, everything that has been undertaken whilst she was the DOT Secretary remains visible on the DOT Facebook page. We should see that as transparency – “this is how hard the Department is working to improve things”.
For the other DOT criticisms listed earlier in this article, it seems to us that the Secretary and the Department are fully aware of these, and the impacts that they are having on international arrival numbers, and domestic tourism.
The multiple posts shared every day on the DOT Facebook account, would suggest that they are working to tackle these issues – to improve infrastructure and facilities, to attract new flight routes, to encourage tourists from our neighboring countries to view the Philippines as a great country to visit.
And they are pulling in the experts, businesses, Associations and stakeholders to get it done together too!
Philippine DOT criticism – Fee-lippines:
Realistically, the Department doesn’t have much say on add-on fees. This often lies with LGU’s (Local Government Units). And so it’s on local businesses to raise their concerns with their local government, if they feel add-on fees are adversely impacting on their tourist numbers.
And maybe also ask for full transparency on the revenue gained from fees, and how that is being used to improve the environment and infrastructure of the destination.
Greater transparency at the local level can only be a good thing for its businesses and destinations.
Philippine DOT Criticism – Cost of domestic flights:
Airlines in many of the other countries in the APAC region, are reducing the costs of some of their domestic flights to encourage local and international visitors to travel further afield once they’ve arrived, and that is something that should be encouraged here too.
But the secretary can only suggest this to the domestic airlines, she can not enforce it.
2025 Traveler intent studies and reports are showing that there is greater interest in going beyond the well-known destinations, to visit destinations that are less visited – to really experience local culture and heritage.
A big challenge for the Philippines is that, whilst it has an abundance of beautiful islands for tourists to potentially visit – there are 7,641 of them!
What has already begun is an expansion of alternative transport routes – with new ferry routes and more frequent sails – and an attempt to align schedules and reliability. Along with new transfer links, direct from airports to ports for tourists flying in to destinations.
Philippine DOT Criticism – Expensive Expo Conference Centers:
This is a tricky one. To fully capture all that the Philippines has to offer in the way of travel and experiences, and to make it attractive to visitors or a worthwhile day out, a big conference hall space is required.
But these big Halls and centers come with big prices for Vendor Stalls. And that does put large, established brands and businesses at an advantage. We covered the Expo criticisms in our Industry News Updates article back in November 2025.
Large, established businesses can afford to rent a stall or pitch. They will have enough employees to man that pitch for 2-3 days without it impacting too much on their day-to-day business, or revenue. An Expo offers them further visibility and opportunities for leads, sales and growth.
But smaller, localized, artisan-based businesses and co-ops – the ones that are just starting out, or are supporting communities with opportunities to make and sell unique local crafts, food and delicacies – often do not have the budget or staffing levels to join the large Expo’s.
“How can our micro and small businesses – the weavers, the carvers, the craft makers, the food vendors and farmers – ever recover if they are pushed into spaces where stall fees alone are already impossible for them to afford?… Instead of building platforms for recovery, we are watching DOT create events that only the already-privileged can afford to join. That is not inclusivity. That is exclusion masked with PR gloss.“ – Madame Talks PH
One idea could be to have a designated “Village” area at the Expo’s – subsidized, affordable stalls and pitches for the MSME‘s (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises), so they have an opportunity to promote themselves and trade too. This would certainly be in line with promoting culture and heritage.
There has also been suggestions of holding regular, smaller events in local market areas and parks, marketing and encouraging tourists to visit to get a real feel of the culture and community. Which is great but under the jurisdiction of LGU’s and the local or regional DOT Office.
Cost it out, and get a proposal to your local DOT, so they can include it in the Budget proposal to the Department, or seek sponsorship opportunities to cover the costs, and assist with marketing.
Philippine DOT Criticism – High Costs of Accommodation, Tours and Food …. without a commensurate rise in Service Standards.
Prices are high in the Philippines – there’s no argument there. The cost of hotel rooms, food and activities have risen a lot since the country began accepting tourists again after the pandemic.
When things were cheaper a friendly smile, and being helpful were maybe acceptable, or enough – “you get what you pay for”, “the Philippines is still a young tourism destination”. And the beaches, activities and views made up for any service or accommodation shortcomings.
BUT, when prices go up … the service standards better go up with them and … frankly … service standards haven’t risen!
Not just here in the Philippines. The pandemic, and the lay-offs that occurred as a result of border closures, and a tourism shutdown, has resulted in the loss of a great many trained and experienced hospitality employees – some of whom took alternative employment, retired (voluntarily or involuntarily), or just decided not to return to the industry.
The issue of a drop in service standards is a cause for concern globally … it’s also a primary reason why MY RANGGO developed the RANGGO App in the first place!
But – getting back to the issue in hand – members of our team have been to arguably some of the best hotels and restaurants in the Philippines since the pandemic, and the Service Standards have really not been great.
The attention to detail has been lost – bringing a tea service to the table but without teaspoons for the sugar, or forks for the cakes, being one example.
This may seem a small slip but it’s a noticeable one. Worse was then having to wave to get the employees attention again – for nearly ten minutes – and not being seen, until the floor manager finally noticed and came over instead. He was courteous, calmly and professionally apologetic, and quick to bring the cutlery himself.
But this was a slip that should never have happened at such a high-end hotel restaurant, particularly when we were one of only three occupied tables, out of 30+ empty ones!
Other examples include employees sent out on to the restaurant or hotel floor, ill-prepared for guest questions, complaints, or without basic knowledge of facilities, amenities or menus. And these were not newly employed workers but people who had already been working there for quite some time already.
When guests are at the point of having to ask or wave for attention or assistance, then basic observation and the skill of pre-empting a guests needs has fallen by the wayside.
Throw in high-end prices, or even just average Philippine prices, and that results in unhappy guests who are likely to complain either to the establishment, online, or to any friends or family who are available to listen. Sometimes all three!
While there’s maybe not much the DOT or the DOT Secretary can do about the increase in cost-of-living and prices. What they are doing is trying to address and raise service standards through the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence (FBSE) program.
The FBSE involves training programs for frontliners in the tourism and hospitality industry, focusing on skills development and customer service excellence. It’s early days but the building blocks are in place.
We would like to end on this one request … can we get the old Tagline back please?
Yes, we know that a lot of people within the Philippines used it as a funny reply to moans or issues when among friends. And yes, we all giggled.
BUT … It’s More Fun In The Philippines worked! It inspired. It intrigued. It gave the Marketing Team so much to work with when producing promotional material.
And it attracted tourists!
