Chinese charter operators eye Philippines flights

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine tourism sector continues to attract Chinese tourists as more Chinese charter operators have expressed interest in mounting flights to the country, the tourism chief said.

Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo told reporters she had a meeting with a Chinese group planning to operate chartered flights from Nanning City in China to the Philippines.

Teo said the unnamed charter operator has not yet forged a formal agreement with the Department of Tourism.

“They’re asking for [our] help. They want  morning flights,” Teo said.

“I said we would do our best to help you. They said they really want it. Hopefully, they will be doing these charted flights by March,” she added.

Last September, the DOT inked an agreement with Chengdu-based charter operator Hanglv International Travel Group to further boost the thriving route between mainland China and Manila.

Teo said the agency continues to receive interest from Chinese charter operators to mount flights from  China to Manila.

“We’ve been receiving requests for chartered flights to the Philippines,” Teo said.

Teo said most of these operators are always asking for chartered flights to Manila, but she urges them consider other airports in the country such as Clark, Davao, Palawan and Cebu.

“I told them to do their chartered flights (in these areas)so that it is spread out (to the entire country),” Teo said.

The Philippines has seen an influx of Chinese tourists this year, mainly driven by the improved diplomatic relations between the two countries as well as the Visa Upon Arrival (VUA) option for Chinese nationals.

For this year, the DOT expects Chinese arrivals to hit the one million mark.

As of the first 10 months of the year, Chinese arrivals had reached 810,807, accounting for 14.81 percent of the total arrivals.

China is currently the Philippines’ second top source market, following South Korea.

Apart from its impact on the arrivals numbers, the Chinese market also pushed visitor receipts up.

Based on latest available figures from the DOT, visitor receipts surged 36.28 percent in the first nine months to P243.23 million.

China was the top spending market for September with estimated receipts of P10.6 billion.