More Chinese visited PH in first 7 months of 2014 than in 2013—Senate
MANILA, Philippines — Thousands more Chinese tourists flew into the country in the first seven months of 2014, despite the ongoing territorial row over the South China Sea, a Senate policy body said.
As of July 31, some 268,028 Chinese tourists arrived in the country, up by 8.53 percent from 246,967 in the first seven months of 2013, the Senate Economic Planning Office (SEPO) said in a paper.
They comprised less than a 10th of the 2.86 million foreign tourists that came to the country from January to July, which grew by 2.24 percent compared with that of 2013.
“Despite the ongoing maritime dispute between the Philippines and China, 8.5 percent more Chinese visited the country during the said period,’’ SEPO said in the paper published in the Senate website.
The Philippines and China have been locked in a dispute over three island groups, chiefly the Spratlys, a chain of up to 190 islands, reefs, coral outcrops and banks believed to be sitting atop large deposits of oil and natural gas.
China claims 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan claim parts of it.
The row is expected to figure in the discussions at the gathering of leaders for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Naypyidaw, Myanmar this week.
South Koreans remained No. 1 in tourist arrivals, with some 662,228 coming into the country during the seven-month period, followed by Americans (449,793), Chinese, Japanese (259,086), and Australians (126,745), according to SEPO.
Compared with last year, the number of tourists from South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan dipped as of July, it noted, but gave no explanation.
The rest in the top 12 arrivals were tourists from Singapore (105,333); Canada (86,225); Taiwan (82,787); United Kingdom (81,248); Malaysia (78,149); Hong Kong (67,034), and Germany (43,559).
During the first seven months, tourists spent some P126.33 billion, up by 15.3 percent from the figure in the same period in 2013. Tourism is the fourth largest source of foreign exchange earnings in the country.
The government, buoyed by several awards and citations for the country’s tourism industry in 2013, is targeting 6.8 million foreign tourists in 2014.
The upgrade of the local commercial aviation industry to Category 1 status by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would allow Philippine carriers to schedule more flights to US destinations and hence, bring in more foreign tourists, SEPO said.
“Currently, the Philippines is developing its niches in diving, medical travel and wellness, and cruise destination. With its advantage of having English as a second language, it is also developing its education tourism niche,’’ it said.
This year, the Department of Tourism is targeting more European tourists, according to SEPO.
To lure more tourists, the government has granted visa-free privilege to seven more countries whose tourists have been known to spend a lot and stay longer: Belize, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the policy body said.
It has been considering granting the same privilege to China and India, it added.
“Investments have been lined up to meet the room demands and improve room capacity by some 5,100, mostly in Metro Manila,’’ SEPO said.
The DOT has shifted its marketing efforts toward site-specific destinations by creating a cluster of destinations. The strategy is to use far more popular attractions to help draw tourists in other destinations in the same cluster, it said.
Meanwhile, on the legislative front, there are at least eight bills pending in the Senate seeking to promote tourism.
These include Senate Bill No. 1805 that seeks to establish an intergovernmental task force for international visitor assistance; SBN 1989 that aims to protect the health and safety of consumers/travelers; SBN 1697 that hopes to establish the Center for Responsible Tourism; SBN 990 that seeks to protect and promote outstanding roads with scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational and archaeological qualities; and SBN 2092 that hopes to promote the country as a medical tourism industry, among others.
SEPO was created to conduct research and in-depth policy analysis on economic and social issues to help senators and the committees discharge their functions.
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