Fifty-nine per cent of Southeast Asian travelers say they plan to spend more on each trip. That is the headline number from Hilton’s South East Asia Pulse Check, and it outranks every other growth signal in the survey: 50 per cent expect to visit more destinations per trip, 43 per cent plan more trips and 41 per cent anticipate longer stays.
Hilton reads this as a change in what drives regional travel. Growth, it says, comes less from people taking more trips than from their willingness to pay more for journeys they think are worthwhile.
Who is spending
The generations split. Among Gen Z travelers across the region, 54 per cent plan to travel more often, 58 per cent want more destinations per trip and 47 per cent expect longer trips. Millennials show the strongest intent to raise spending, at 63 per cent.
The Philippines stands out. Sixty per cent of travelers based there plan to increase their budget per trip, and 51 per cent intend to take longer trips, the highest share among the six markets surveyed. Fifty-three per cent expect to visit more destinations, though only 38 per cent plan to travel more frequently. Among Filipino Gen Z travelers, 67 per cent intend to spend more per trip.
Exploration comes naturally to them. Seven in 10 Philippines-based travelers, 70 per cent, usually take in several cities or areas within a country on one trip, the highest figure in the survey. For future regional travel, 52 per cent plan to mostly visit new places and 43 per cent want a mix of new and familiar. Just 5 per cent expect to mostly return to places they know.
Where the money goes
More spending has not made travelers less picky. Value for money is the top factor when Filipino travelers choose a destination, cited by 48 per cent, followed by food at 45 per cent. Forty per cent point to visa-free access or fewer restrictions. For hotels, value for money leads at 73 per cent, then convenient location at 65 per cent and family-friendly amenities at 54 per cent.
Across the region, value for money (67 per cent) and location (59 per cent) lead hotel decisions, with quality dining at 47 per cent and family amenities at 45 per cent.
Motives differ too. In the Philippines, 52 per cent travel to mark a personal milestone or special occasion, the only surveyed market where celebration outranks both the urge to escape and social media inspiration.
Social media and AI
Social media still shapes where Southeast Asians go. It influences destination choice for 78 per cent of respondents, against 63 per cent for AI, and activities for 72 per cent against 63 per cent. For accommodation the gap narrows to 67 and 61 per cent. YouTube and TikTok lead as inspiration, cited by 75 and 71 per cent, with TikTok reaching 84 per cent among Gen Z.
Hilton, which has 124 properties in Southeast Asia, recently launched an AI Planner on Hilton.com, a conversational tool that helps guests compare properties. The survey ran online in June 2026 among 3,000 respondents, 500 each in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Hilton said the results will feed its 2027 Trends Report.
