Sports tourism body slams HelloSafe travel safety report

How safe is HelloSafe? “Utterly unsafe!”

This was the reaction of Philippine sports tourism stakeholders and communities when asked about HelloSafe’s recent report listing the Philippines as one of the three least safe countries to visit in 2024.

“Obviously, HelloSafe’s methodology and criteria to assess countries are, ironically, unsafe, to say the least,” said Charles Lim, president and CEO of Sports Turismo Alliance Inc.

According to Lim, the Philippines has hosted numerous international sports events in the last three to four years—within the audit period of HelloSafe, a global insurance company—without any alarming incidents involving thousands of athletes and hundreds of thousands of fans.

“We hosted the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023, a series of eight international races with the IRONMAN Group in 2024, and later this year, the Philippines is hosting the Men’s Volleyball World Championship as well as the FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup,” Lim said.

He emphasized that global sports bodies such as the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA), and Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) use stringent safety criteria before awarding hosting rights.

“These international sports organizations have conducted their own thorough safety assessments—far more rigorous than HelloSafe’s—and they find the Philippines extremely safe for staging major events,” Lim added.

“Unless HelloSafe has grounds to challenge the findings of these globally respected sports organizations, we should dismiss their inaccurate listing. Safety of athletes and visitors is a top priority in all hosting bids,” he said.

Earlier, Tourism Secretary Cristina G. Frasco demanded that HelloSafe remove its June 20, 2025 global travel safety warning, which named the Philippines, Colombia, and Mexico as the least safe travel destinations.

In a statement issued July 15, 2025, HelloSafe apologized for the error, but tourism officials said the “damage” had already been done due to the “warrantless and irresponsible” nature of the report.

Sports Turismo Alliance Inc. is a nonstock, nonprofit organization supporting tourism bodies and sports communities across the Philippines.

It is a member of the International Association of Event Hosts, a London-based global group that promotes sports, cultural, and heritage events.

The group also organizes the Philippine Sports Tourism Awards, now in its seventh year, which honors local governments, sports associations, event organizers, hotels, resorts, airlines, tour operators, sports venues, corporate sponsors, destination marketers, and sports foundations for advancing sports tourism in the country.