PHILIPPINES’ hospitality companies that relied heavily on Chinese tourists are diversifying their markets in the wake of the travel advisory issued by China in September that has adversely affected business.
Boracay, the main destination for the Chinese which saw a 69 per cent plunge in arrivals, is courting South Koreans and Filipino travellers to make up for the loss, said Dionisio Salme, president of Boracay Foundation, which consists of the island’s over 50 resorts and other hospitality providers.
Salme said resorts that used to have big chunks of Chinese tour groups were forced to shut off some of their rooms. China is Boracay’s second most important market after South Korea.
He said Boracay Foundation and the local government unit are attending the World Travel Mart in London next month for the first time, to diversify their markets and tap Europe’s potential.
A China wholesale travel consultant who declined to be named complained that his company’s bottomline is heavily eroded, and is, along with other travel consultants, in dialogue with the Department of Tourism (DoT) to put an end to the travel advisory.
The DoT has urged Boracay hotels to reduce rates and a number of the hotels have since reduced published rates by 15-20 per cent, though the call remains largely unheeded.
Bonnie Javelona, operations manager of Southwest Tours Boracay, said the company’s volume of Chinese travellers to Boracay has been brought down by almost 1,000 arrivals per day.
Trudy Allen, chief executive of boracay.travel, said that while her agency has not been impacted as her clients are mainly Filipinos, she observed that some hotels have taken a huge hit because most of their guests consisted of large tours from China.
Clarification: This article initially stated that China had imposed a travel ban on the Philippines, which was incorrect and has since been amended for accuracy.
