Observations from my five foreign trips in 2025

I was lucky to have taken five foreign trips this year — to Hong Kong and China last April, Spain in September, and Vietnam and Japan in November. All were work-related except the Vietnam trip, which was a vacation with my ex-UP Narra dormmates with our spouses and friends.

To help provide context to the observations I made about tourism during my travels, I constructed this table based on information from the UN Tourism website. I added a few other countries I have been to — like France as I had gone to Nice in 2023. I also added other East Asian neighbors to this table.

The Philippines has the smallest number of tourist arrivals in the table, mainly because of its geography. It is far away from the Asian mainland where visitors can go from, say, Vietnam to Cambodia to Thailand by car or bus aside from airplane. Add to this our generally poor infrastructure.

Here are some observations, some of which we can possibly adapt in the Philippines.

1. Hong Kong’s huge airport is directly connected to the city by high-speed train, then one can go by taxi or subway to stations near hotels. There are also buses from the airport to major hotel corridors. The city’s long and modern subway trains and the huge skyscrapers continue to amaze me. It’s main attraction for international visitors is its unilateral free trade policy, with zero tariffs for exports and imports so visitors can find many items from China and many other countries at competi-tive prices. This is a combination of tourism and trade policy that the Philippines should consider.

2. While Beijing international airport is also huge and is connected to the city by a fast airport express train, our host picked us up by van as we stopped by a nice restaurant before going to our hotel. We took the toll road, but it was congested even on a Sunday night. China has become a car culture country unlike many decades ago where it was a bicycle and motorcycle riding country.

3. Madrid’s international airport is also huge, but our landing terminal was far away from the baggage claim. It took about an hour from landing to get the luggage, a very long time! Going from the airport express train to the high-speed train station going to Valencia (where I was attending my annual international free market network conference) and other cities is very confusing as there were no clear signs. I missed my train to Valencia and had to buy another train ticket. SMC’s Bulacan airport should avoid this kind of lousy airport design.

4. Ho Chi Minh international airport is also big, but the country is getting a lot more visitors now as many Chinese tourists are avoiding Japan and the US, going instead to Vietnam and other East Asian nations. Flying back to Manila, it took us more than one hour just queuing at immigration, then the security check for passengers and their hand-carry. I think Ho Chi Minh airport should move elsewhere, like a wide reclaimed area near the sea where further expansion is possible.

5. The Narita-Tokyo international airport is really huge and modern. But I noticed it was not as busy as before, probably due to millions of China tourists avoiding Japan due to the ongoing diplomatic spat over Taiwan. Nagoya airport is also huge, but we landed at the domestic terminal. Flying back to Manila we took the Haneda-Tokyo airport, also huge but not as big as Narita.

6. China is careful to preserve its historic structures that are up to 1,500 years old. The Great Wall of China attracts 15-17 million tourists a year, with the Badaling section near Beijing attracting some 10 million. Our host brought me there in the afternoon after our morning meeting and lunch, and I was amazed by the huge number of visitors coming in even in late afternoon — many white people, then locals from other provinces, then other Asians.

The Forbidden City or Palace Museum in the center of Beijing attracted up to 19 million visitors in 2019. When I was there, my host said it gets an average of 40,000 visitors a day, peaking at 80,000 a day in the summer months. One must reserve tickets several days ahead. Again, I was amazed at the hugeness of the area, the wood carvings, and architecture.

7. I was impressed by the high-speed trains I took during my trips. There was China’s train, which runs up to 350 kph from Chengde to Beijing; then Spain’s train which runs up to 300 kph from Madrid to Valencia and back; then Japan’s shinkansen or bullet train which runs up to 280 kph from Nagoya to Tokyo. There are trains going at up to 320 kph in other destinations. All arrive and depart on schedule, but in terms of a smooth ride, I think Chi-na’s more modern trains are better. The Philippines should aspire to have these high-speed trains someday, say from Manila to Laoag City in the north and to Legaspi City in the south.

8. They use tunnels instead of zigzag roads to traverse hills and mountains. Going from Beijing to a pumped-hydro storage power plant in the mountains, we passed by a long elevated toll road, then through so many tunnels — ranging in length from 200 meters to two to five kms long — that I lost count. Smooth, well-paved, and well-lit, there was even an internet signal inside the long tunnels. The Philippines should have these tunnels too someday: these would re-duce road accidents and road closures from landslides. They would also do for horizontal mining.

9. There were no tricycles, no jeepneys, and no stray dogs in sight. The five places I went to have none of these while the Philippines has a lot. Even Vietnam has none of these, only motorcycles, cars, and aircon buses. And even in rural areas of Ho Chi Minh, all the houses have fences and gates except those with shops and restaurants. The gates are about two to three meters from the road, with no vehicles — even motorcycles — parked on road shoulders. The motorists are disciplined and considerate.

10. The rule of law protects peace and order, and private property. I saw few or no security guards at shops, malls, and hotels. Plus, there were lots of bright lights at night (no issues with the electricity supply) and wide pe-destrian walkways.

There are more observations, but I limit myself this time to those 10 points.