Liberalising visa policy, like what many destinations have done, will help the Philippines bring back the Chinese market which had reduced sharply in recent years, opined Rene Reyes, tourism attaché at the Philippine Tourism Office Shanghai, adding that a visa upon arrival “will surely help us to attract more Chinese visitors”.
Destinations that reinstated friendly visa policies, including e-visa and visa-on-arrival, have benefitted from a faster tourism recovery rate compared to others.
To bring back the Chinese market to the Philippines, friendly visa policies need to be implemented
Reyes pointed out that countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand had already offered visa-free entry for Chinese tourists, while the Chinese government had eased up flight permits.
In mid-2023, the Philippines trialled an e-visa facility for Chinese nationals and had plans to implement it for the Indian market later that year. However, the latter is now halted for improvements and no date has been set for its resumption.
China is the Philippines’ second top tourist market, with a record 1.7 million visitors in 2019, dropping to 263,836 in 2023 according to the Department of Tourism statistics.
In the first two months of this year, tourists from China reached 85,876 or 6.99 per cent of the total foreign arrivals, a far third from top source market South Korea with 28.50 per cent market share and the US with 15.93 per cent.
Last year, the Philippines hosted certain business events with a delegation from China among them: World Food Expo in Manila, Cebu and Davao; Silkroad Philippines 2023: The Best of China at the World Trade Center Metro Manila; PackPrintPlas Philippines 2023 at SMX Convention Center; Philippines Apparel and Textile Show, Philippines Sports Show and The Asia International E-commerce Expo at SMX Convention Center Manila.
Reyes said: “(The) China market will remain the biggest outbound market in the world and this will also be true for the MICE industry. (Recovery) may be slow now – especially for the incentive travel, which was big before – but this will soon pick up and we need to prepare for this.”
Liberalising visa policy, like what many destinations have done, will help the Philippines bring back the Chinese market which had reduced sharply in recent years, opined Rene Reyes, tourism attaché at the Philippine Tourism Office Shanghai, adding that a visa upon arrival “will surely help us to attract more Chinese visitors”.
Destinations that reinstated friendly visa policies, including e-visa and visa-on-arrival, have benefitted from a faster tourism recovery rate compared to others.
Reyes pointed out that countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand had already offered visa-free entry for Chinese tourists, while the Chinese government had eased up flight permits.
In mid-2023, the Philippines trialled an e-visa facility for Chinese nationals and had plans to implement it for the Indian market later that year. However, the latter is now halted for improvements and no date has been set for its resumption.
China is the Philippines’ second top tourist market, with a record 1.7 million visitors in 2019, dropping to 263,836 in 2023 according to the Department of Tourism statistics.
In the first two months of this year, tourists from China reached 85,876 or 6.99 per cent of the total foreign arrivals, a far third from top source market South Korea with 28.50 per cent market share and the US with 15.93 per cent.
Last year, the Philippines hosted certain business events with a delegation from China among them: World Food Expo in Manila, Cebu and Davao; Silkroad Philippines 2023: The Best of China at the World Trade Center Metro Manila; PackPrintPlas Philippines 2023 at SMX Convention Center; Philippines Apparel and Textile Show, Philippines Sports Show and The Asia International E-commerce Expo at SMX Convention Center Manila.
Reyes said: “(The) China market will remain the biggest outbound market in the world and this will also be true for the MICE industry. (Recovery) may be slow now – especially for the incentive travel, which was big before – but this will soon pick up and we need to prepare for this.”