ESL tourists from Taiwan, Vietnam flocking to Cebu

More student tourists are expected to come and stay in Cebu as Vietnam and Taiwan nationals are joining the trend of learning the English language in Cebu.

In an interview with Department of Tourism (DOT-7) chief tourism operations Gelena Asis-Dimpas, she said while ESL (English as Second Language) students from Japan, and Korea, are now returning to Cebu, new non-English nationalities are coming in too, led by Vietnamese and Taiwanese.

In fact, there is a newly opened ESL school in Cebu that focuses only on servicing Taiwanese ESL students, Dimpas said.

The avalanche of ESL students is seen to boost the tourism recovery journey of Cebu and other provinces in Central Visayas, like Bohol, Dumaguete, and Siquijor, which are also becoming favorite hubs for foreign ESL students.

Prior to the pandemic, there were over 100 ESL schools in Central Visayas, the majority of which are operating in Cebu. Today, at least 10-15 schools are re-opening, and more are expected to re-open, Dimpas noted.

According to Dimpas, the first to resume the face-to-face ESL program is the Japanese students who arrived in Cebu last year, availing of different ESL programs which require students to stay as long as three months.

The Department of Tourism is supporting this sector because ESL as part of the education tourism provides higher tourism receipts as student tourists stay longer here compared to other types of tourists.

One of the challenges now faced by the ESL industry in its comeback from an over two years break, is to announce the resumption of ESL schools in Cebu and other destinations to major non-English speaking markets.

Also, Dimpas calls other ESL schools to be part of the ESL organizations like the Cebu Association of Language Academies, and other registered ESL associations in order to get support from the government, as well as be part of the network to promote ESL students to come to the Philippines.

Cebu is the primary location of foreign ESL students in the Philippines, next to Baguio City. About 70 percent of the total ESL students in the country are staying and studying in Cebu.

During the pandemic, the DOT has continually promoted the country as a hub for ESL and piloted initiatives such as the Master Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) to upskill and certify teachers from all over the country.

Data from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) showed that Special Study Permits (SSP) applications have continuously increased prior to the pandemic. From 22,561 in 2013, SSP applications in 2018 reached 59,428. SSP is issued by the BI for foreigners who wish to engage in short-term study in the Philippines.