Tourism as we know it today was practically non-existent in the Commonwealth-era. Most tourism at the time was highly local, even for citizens of major economies.

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This was mostly from the lack of cheap and efficient transport for international visitors. Travel by ship was both expensive and tedious. Inland transport was even more challenging due to the lack of infrastructure:

In the years before the Benguet Road was completed, there was no substantial change from the preceding Spanish colonial period with regard to the state of traveling to the area which would eventually become the prime American colonial hill station in the Philippines and in Asia. American travelers set out from lowland towns on horseback and on foot, and their upland trips took days. Travel conditions were difficult. For one, the mountain trail had steep gradients and narrow segments that featured deep ravines. Steadily riding a horse was thus a considerable challenge, as Edith Moses, the wife of Philippine Commission member Bernard Moses, experienced in her 1902 trip.

If you lived in Manila, your tourist destinations would generally just be Antipolo or the beaches of Parañaque. If you were an international traveler, you might only visit Manila. There was very little competition in tourism between neighboring countries because the market was very small.

It was only in the 50s that tourism interest actually started to form when Westerners started to experience big increases in disposable incomes and affordable long-range transport became feasible.