At the recent HSMA Summit (Hotel Sales & Marketing Association) held at the City of Dreams ballroom, a keynote speech delivered by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Jonvic Remulla was either (1) the too honest breath of fresh air we should grudingly welcome – or (2) the can of worms that should have been left unopened.

Either way, his pronouncement that one of the major reasons the upswing in Tourism figures has not happened is because the country is perceived as unsafe elicited a flurry of reactions. To quote Remulla, “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 to be fair to Remulla, he did go on to say that’s it’s on them, as DILG, to change that scenario and perception – and he listed down an action plan on how this was to be achieved. So it wasn’t a case of uttering a bleak statement, with no proposed solution.

For myself, while a number of Tourism stakeholders then decried Remulla’s statement as bad timing coming on the heels of the HelloSafe index report, which our Department of Tourism had questioned; I was appreciating that here was one official voice who was not insisting on painting a rosy picture in the face of disturbing, incontrovertible facts.

What are these facts? Our first quarter visitor arrivals figures are disappointing, and we now languish in seventh place among the nine ASEAN countries. From January to March of this year, Thailand enjoyed 9.5 million visitors (+38 percent from the same period last year), and Malaysia either had 5.7 million visitors, or actually had marginally more than Thailand, if you counted visitors to Malaysia coming from Singapore (according to VnExpress International).

Vietnam enjoyed ingress of six million visitors, while Indonesia had 3.9 million. Singapore counted 3.4 million, and Cambodia who used to play catch up to us, enjoyed 1.6 million visitors. Philippines had 1.5 million, while Laos and Myanmar had less. Now I do appreciate that in terms of dollars earned from our 1.5 million visitors, we may be on track for a banner year; but it’s clear that numbers do help pull up those revenue figures, and with no excuse of the health crisis, there has to be some sober assessment of what’s holding us back.

Thailand is known for their resorts and beaches, their vibrant night life and affordability; while Malaysia is perceived as more family friendly and orderly. Indonesia has Bali, with it’s natural beauty, temples, and cultural heritage. Just recently, Malaysia extended it’s visa exemption for Chinese travellers for another five years. And yes, we can argue we have all those attributes as well, plus our well-known world class hospitality; but the fact remains that we continue to lag behind our neighbors.

To add fuel to the fire, the FFCCCII (Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.) President Victor Lim, came out with a statement fully supporting Sec. Remulla’s call for an uncompromising nationwide security drive, particularly in tourist spots. And Mr. Lim cited infrastructure and connectivity as major issues we must also resolve.

If there is something I’d like to see shelved from the conversation once and for all, it would be the mention of fluency in the English language as one of our built in advantages – which everyone still cites. Other than possibly Singapore, you have countries who for decades now, have not made it a big deal to be fluent in English – and yet they’re enjoying numbers that far exceed our’s. So what is the so-called advantage? It’s clearly not a deciding factor when tourists are planning which country to visit. Do I hesitate on visiting France because people there don’t like to, at times even refuse to, speak English? We get by when visiting Japan or Thailand; and with the advances in technology, we make the hurdles to the language barrier part of the travel experience.

At the Summit, Jerome Dela Cruz, with an MBA and specializing in Business Analytics and FINTECH, offered a fascinating talk on AI and the hospitality industry. It was an eye-opener on where tech is taking us, and how it’s a game-changer. The key phrase is Agentic AI. We’re used to AI Agent, which is task based, reacts, and not proactive; examples of which are Chatbots and AI Writing Assistants. But what’s already here is Agentic AI, which is goal-based, can plan, make decisions, take actions, and adjust along the way. Agentic AI does not wait for the human to act, it can act on it’s own to meet your goals.

An example of Agentic AI is Expedia’s feature of turning IG reels into bookable travel itineraries. And in retail, Google now allows users to discover and buy products directly from the Search, with no retailer website required. To be honest, this talk ‘scared’ a number in the hall, with thoughts of Sales Reps becoming obsolete. But the message was clear, adapt and change, and turn tech and AI to your advantage. Important now to go “longtail,” and stay ahead of the curve.

Thanks to the HSMA for mounting this annual Summit, and for counting me as a regular guest!