MANILA — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to mobilize a further $3 billion in tourism financing across Southeast Asia over the next three years, its Philippines country director Andrew Jeffries said Tuesday at the opening of the ASEAN Tourism Investment Showcase.
The planned financing follows more than $3.7 billion that ADB mobilized for tourism in the region from 2015 to 2025, Jeffries said. He spoke on behalf of ADB vice president Wempi Saputra at the event, held during the ASEAN Tourism Ministers’ Retreat.
Jeffries said tourism investment could create jobs and support local businesses, but projects need stronger preparation to attract financing. Among the challenges he identified were undercapitalized secondary cities and tourism micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as gaps in coordination across destinations.
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He said public financing, technical assistance and concessional resources could help reduce investment risks and attract private capital. ADB projects that tourism’s contribution to the region’s economy could reach $685 billion by 2036.
The showcase brings tourism proposals from ASEAN member states before investors, development partners and technical experts. It is part of work on an ASEAN Sustainable and Resilient Tourism Investment Outlook, which aims to identify investment opportunities and the support needed to turn them into viable projects.
ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General for Community and Corporate Affairs Nararyo Soeprapto said tourism contributed about $414 billion to the region’s economy and supported roughly 46 million jobs in 2025. He said 42 percent of tourist arrivals in ASEAN that year came from within the region.
Soeprapto also pointed to ASEAN’s record $245.7 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, while stressing that tourism proposals must be clear enough to draw capital.
“Capital follows clarity,” he said. The goal, he added, was to move “from potential to projects, from projects to partnerships, and from partnerships to investment on the ground.”
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Speaking on behalf of Philippine Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay, Department of Tourism (DOT) Assistant Secretary for Branding and Marketing Gisella Marie Romualdez-Quisumbing said the showcase would help member states present selected destinations and investment proposals while identifying what each needs to become ready for financing.
“We are not simply showcasing destinations. We are showcasing their potential,” she said.
Romualdez-Quisumbing said investment decisions should account for the communities, workers and businesses that sustain tourism, as well as the infrastructure connecting destinations. As destinations seek to grow, she said, they must also build resilience and protect the natural and cultural assets that attract visitors.
“Investment, therefore, is not simply about building more,” she said. “It is about investing in the future of our destinations and the people who make them what they are.”
The Philippines is hosting the showcase as part of its 2026 ASEAN chairship, under the tourism theme Navigating Our Tourism Future Together.