Hanoi, Phuket, and Dubai Are Losing Travelers to Asia’s Quieter Cities

Asia’s marquee hubs are still drawing the crowds, but the booking data points somewhere else. Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook Report says accommodation searches in secondary Asian cities have grown 15% faster than in traditional tourism hubs over the last two years. Secondary destinations accounted for 34% of total accommodation searches on the platform in the first half of 2025.

The shift is showing up in hard numbers far from the marquee names. Ninh Binh, a Vietnam province that markets itself on limestone karsts rather than Old Quarter crowds, logged 19.4 million tourist arrivals in 2025, including 2.22 million international visitors. Ras Al Khaimah, a UAE emirate an hour’s drive from Dubai, welcomed 1.35 million overnight visitors in 2025, up 6% year on year, with tourism revenues up 12%. The Philippines’ Bohol province drew 1.4 million tourists, a 4% increase. Each is a town travelers used to skip, and that airlines, hotels, and tourism ministries are now racing to handle.

The Agoda Signal: 15% Faster Growth in Asia’s Quieter Cities

Agoda’s 2026 report, drawn from a customer survey across Asia-Pacific markets, frames the move in three numbers that map to the typical traveler’s wallet. Accommodation searches in secondary cities across Asia grew 15% faster than in traditional tourism hubs over the past two years, and 43% of travelers cite lower costs as their top reason to explore them. Unique local culture, special promotions, and outdoor activities round out the top motivations. Across the same dataset, secondary destinations captured 34% of all accommodation searches on the platform in the first half of 2025, a share that the report credits to a steady build-up of villa, apartment, and boutique guesthouse listings since 2022.

Secondary cities are no longer hidden gems. They’re becoming the engine of travel growth across Asia.

That line is from Andrew Smith, Senior Vice President for Supply at Agoda, in the same report. He added that travelers want authenticity, value, and “a sense of discovery that the major hotspots cannot always deliver,” and that the shift “unlocks real opportunity for local communities and for the partners who move early.” The same study found that ease of access is the decisive factor for most travelers considering a new destination, with the sentiment strongest in India (91%), the Philippines (89%), and Indonesia (80%). Governments in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and India are pairing those preferences with targeted marketing campaigns and infrastructure upgrades. More detail on the data and outlook sits in Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook on secondary Asian cities.

• 15% faster growth in accommodation searches in secondary cities vs. traditional hubs (Agoda 2026 Travel Outlook)
• 34% of total accommodation searches on Agoda came from secondary destinations in H1 2025
• 43% of travelers cite lower costs as the top reason to explore secondary destinations
• 91% / 89% / 80% of travelers in India, the Philippines, and Indonesia say ease of access is the decisive factor

Marquee Hubs Are Still Packing, Just Less Than Before

Vietnam’s national tally is the clearest signal that the marquee hubs remain the magnet. The country welcomed 8.8 million international visitors in the first four months of 2026, a 14.6% year-on-year rise, with 2.03 million of those arriving in April alone. Vietnam’s National Authority of Tourism has set a full-year target of 25 million, and after four months the country is already 35% of the way there. The top source markets, led by China and South Korea, accounted for 39.8% of arrivals, and Russia posted a near-300% surge on the strength of returning direct flights.

The marquee hubs are no longer the only story, though. Ninh Binh, two hours south of Hanoi, drew more than 19.4 million visitors in 2025, including 2.22 million international travelers, with tourism revenue above VND 21,238 billion. Vietnam’s official tourism portal now lists Ninh Binh, Hoi An, and the terraced fields of the northwest among the anchors of what it calls “anti-tourism” travel, a market of visitors who are actively choosing quieter, more authentic destinations over peak-season crowds. The framing matters because it shows a national tourism authority reading the same shift Agoda’s data shows. The portal’s 2026 outlook is laid out in Vietnam’s 2026 anti-tourism travel trends report.

In the Gulf, Dubai is on its own record run. The city’s Department of Economy and Tourism reported 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, up 5% year on year, marking a third straight year of records. The shift to watch is that the next-door neighbor is also setting records. Ras Al Khaimah, on the same highway out of Dubai, drew 1.35 million overnight visitors in 2025, a 6% increase, with tourism revenues up 12%, driven in part by expanded direct air links from India, China, the UK, and Russia.

The Three Quiet Winners, With Receipts

Three secondary hubs, on three different coasts, show how the new flow is settling.

In northern Vietnam, Ninh Binh is treating secondary status as a feature. The province’s Department of Tourism reported 19.4 million visitors in 2025, with international arrivals up sharply and tourism revenue topping VND 21,238 billion. The draw, per Vietnam’s tourism portal, is the same anti-tourism pitch that pulled visitors to Hoi An and the northwestern terraces: slower streets, ethnic minority cultures, and easy bike routes. The province has launched a 2026 program built around renewing tourism products, digital transformation, and regional linkages, with provincial vice chairman Tran Song Tung praising the “remarkable achievements” of 2025 at the year-end review. The full breakdown is in Ninh Binh’s 2025 tourism report from its provincial government.

Ras Al Khaimah is the more dramatic case. The UAE’s fourth emirate welcomed 1.35 million overnight visitors in 2025, a 6% year-on-year rise, with tourism revenues up 12%, according to the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. RAKTDA’s CEO, Phillipa Harrison, the former managing director of Tourism Australia, called 2025 “a landmark year for Ras Al Khaimah” and pointed to growth in higher-value segments, with MICE and destination weddings revenue up 25%. The pipeline behind those numbers is also growing: construction topped out on the $5.1 billion Wynn Al Marjan Island, the UAE’s first integrated resort, in 2025, with a planned 2027 opening and a forecast of more than 9,000 jobs.

Bohol, in the central Philippines, is the model ASEAN officials keep pointing to. The island province drew 1.4 million tourists in 2025, a 4% increase, helped by the Bohol-Panglao International Airport, which connects the island to Seoul and Busan in addition to the Philippine domestic network. In January 2026, the provincial government signed a new tourism code that institutionalises a policy of prioritising Boholanos in tourism employment and services, and sets out a plan to broaden the island’s appeal “beyond beaches.” Bohol’s case is now being held up at regional tourism conferences as a template for how to spread arrivals without breaking the host community, with more context in ADB’s analysis of ASEAN’s secondary destination pivot.

What the Secondary Boom Is Risking

Every pivot away from the marquee hubs has its mirror image, and the smaller towns are starting to see it. The warning came from inside the same room where Bohol’s officials were describing their success. At the ASEAN Tourism Conference 2026 in Cebu in January, Philippine Tourism Secretary Maria Esperanza Cristina Garcia Frasco made the stakes plain.

If we do not provide other opportunities for our tourists, and do not unburden our destinations with overtourism, then it can lead to threats to the sustainability of these destinations.

Scott Morris, Asian Development Bank Vice-President for East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific, was blunter in his keynote. “Across ASEAN, countries are transitioning away from volume-led models toward higher value and more diversified forms of tourism,” he said, adding that the move is meant to lift average visitor spend even as visitor numbers rise, but only if the destination is ready. Bohol, he noted, invested in roads, power, and a working international airport before opening up to bigger flows. Smaller destinations that try to scale up their marketing before their infrastructure catches up risk overcrowding the very places travelers were looking for.

Airlines, Airports, and a $3 Billion Pipeline

The shift is in the routes and the runways, not just the brochures. Bohol-Panglao International Airport now serves multiple international and domestic carriers, with direct links to Busan and Seoul in South Korea as well as the major Philippine cities. In Vietnam, returning direct flights from Russia have helped drive the near-300% surge in Russian arrivals the country recorded in early 2026. In the Gulf, Ras Al Khaimah’s 6% growth in visitors is closely tied to new direct air links from India, China, the UK, and Russia, with smaller European and Central Asian markets also posting double-digit gains in 2025. The source-market mix at RAK broke down as follows:

• India: +14%
• China: +19%
• UK: +10%
• Russia: +20%

The Asian Development Bank has put real money behind the pivot. Scott Morris told the ASEAN Tourism Conference that ADB has a $3 billion pipeline of new tourism and tourism-enabling investments across ASEAN through 2030, building on more than $4 billion the bank has already deployed in the region since the early 2000s. The bank is also funding Cambodia’s effort to position Battambang, north of Phnom Penh, as an arts and creative hub and a secondary destination in its own right, with projects that target connectivity gaps, tourism-related small and medium-sized enterprises, and destination management.

The gating question, as Philippine Airlines Vice-President for Corporate Affairs Bud Britanico put it in Cebu, is whether the infrastructure can carry the demand. “If the infrastructure cannot support the demand, present and future, it would be very challenging for us to even consider putting a new route into a destination,” he said, naming infrastructure, demand, and policy as the three inputs airlines weigh before opening a route. The destinations winning the next round of capacity are the ones that can show all three.

What Travelers Should Actually Plan Around

Quieter does not mean easier, and the secondary cities taking the bookings are not built for the same kind of visitor as a beach resort. Public transit runs less often, ferries and airport transfers often need to be booked in advance, and English-language signage can be patchy outside the main sites. A traveler who lands in Ninh Binh expecting the Old Quarter’s walkable street food will find a province built around pagodas, river caves, and a network of small homestays. A traveler who flies into Ras Al Khaimah expecting Dubai’s late-night strip will find an emirate that markets itself on heritage zones, dune drives, and a quieter Hajar mountain backdrop.

What the smaller places give back, and what the data hints at, is value. Agoda’s customer survey found 43% of travelers pick secondary destinations for lower costs, and the platform’s non-hotel supply, including villas, apartments, and boutique guesthouses, has been growing steadily since 2022. Agoda’s own report notes that ease of access is the single biggest factor in choosing a secondary destination, with 91%, 89%, and 80% of travelers in India, the Philippines, and Indonesia respectively calling it the decisive test. The trade for the traveler is less convenience, more space, and a more local economy underfoot. For the destination, it is the difference between a hotel pipeline that lifts the average spend and an airport that runs out of gates. A few practical checks before booking:

• Airport transfer options and lead time
• Frequency of public transit or ferry connections
• English-language signage at main sites
• Seasonal weather and shoulder-season tradeoffs

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best alternatives to crowded destinations like Hanoi, Phuket, and Dubai?

Ninh Binh and Hoi An take the overflow from Hanoi, with karsts, pagodas, and river caves in the first case and a UNESCO-traded old town in the second. Koh Lanta and the Trang Islands serve as quieter alternatives to Phuket, with clear water, reef trips, and small-town markets. Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, both under an hour from Dubai, lean on heritage zones, dunes, and the Hajar mountains. Further afield, Bohol in the Philippines and Battambang in Cambodia are the two secondary destinations ASEAN officials cite most often as models.

Are Hanoi, Phuket, and Dubai actually losing visitors?

Not losing yet, but losing share of the growth. Vietnam recorded 8.8 million international visitors in the first four months of 2026, up 14.6% on the year, and Dubai reported 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, up 5%. Both are still setting records. The shift is that growth is increasingly flowing past them to secondary cities, with Agoda’s customer survey showing 43% of travelers actively choosing those alternatives for the lower costs and the quieter experience.

How much faster are secondary cities in Asia growing?

Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook Report puts the gap at 15% faster growth in accommodation searches for secondary cities over the last two years. Secondary destinations accounted for 34% of total accommodation searches on Agoda in the first half of 2025, with 43% of travelers citing lower costs as the top reason to choose them.

Are smaller Asian cities ready for the extra demand?

Mixed. Bohol invested in roads, power, and a working international airport before scaling its visitor numbers, a sequence that ADB and ASEAN officials now treat as a model. The Asian Development Bank has a $3 billion pipeline of new tourism and tourism-enabling investments across ASEAN through 2030. Philippine Airlines has been blunt that it will not add new routes to destinations whose infrastructure cannot support the demand, leaving airports and ground transport as the binding constraint on the next round of growth.

Is the shift to secondary cities likely to hold?

It is now policy as much as preference. The ASEAN Tourism Sectoral Plan 2026-2030 institutionalises diversification across five focus areas, including accessible travel, digital transformation, and sustainable tourism. ADB’s $3 billion investment pipeline runs through 2030, and Ras Al Khaimah’s $5.1 billion Wynn Al Marjan Island is scheduled to open in 2027, the first major test of whether build-out can match the new demand without breaking the smaller places the new wave of travelers came to find.