Phl hopes to double tourist arrivals

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippines has conveyed to China that it is hoping to double the number of tourist arrivals in the country from 3 million to 6 million by 2016 despite the Aug. 23 hostage taking incident at the Luneta Grandstand that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim was in Beijing from April 10 to 13 to promote the Philippines in China’s outbound travel market. He arrived with a delegation of more than a dozen Filipino travel and tour operators.

In his meeting with his counterpart, China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) chairman Shao Qi Wei, on Monday at the CNTA headquarters in central Beijing, Lim stated that China is a “very important market for Philippine tourism,” and that the Aquino administration “is working hard to improve infrastructure, facilities, and services in preparation for the arrival of more Chinese tourists.”

The number of Chinese travelers to the Philippines topped 200,000 in 2010, posting an annual growth of 18 percent and making it one of the fastest-growing markets for Philippine tourism.

Lim told Shao that Manila is hoping to double the number of tourist arrivals to six million in five years, and that he expects China, being a close neighbor and with the largest number of outbound tourists in the region, will be a key source of these arrivals.

Lim also briefed Shao on the open-skies policy of the Aquino administration, more relaxed visa policies and measures to assure and enhance the safety of tourists in the country.

He emphasized that the Philippine government is paying attention to the contributions of the tourism industry to the agenda of generating employment.

It is estimated that with rising incomes in China, the number of the country’s outbound travelers is expected to reach 100 million by 2020. By this time, it shall have become the largest source of tourists in Asia and the world.

A Boston-based consulting company estimates that by 2020 a quarter of all international travelers arriving in Japan and South Korea will come from China, while arrivals from China in Europe will quadruple.

In North America, Chinese travelers will rank third among international arrivals. On average, there will be 25 million first-time Chinese travelers every year for the next 10 years.