PH, neighbors see drop in Chinese tourists
THE number of Chinese tourists in the Philippines declined by 7.37 percent in 2014, the Department of Tourism in a recent report.
This means that from 426,352 Chinese tourists in 2013, the number dropped to 394,951 last year. This kicked China out of the top five visitors in the country in terms of revenue contribution, with Canada replacing it on fifth spot with inbound receipts worth P8.48 billion.
DOT, however, said the decline still did not dislodge China as the fourth biggest source market, with a share of 8.17 percent.
After Korea, America, Japan and Australia completed the list of the top five market in terms of tourist arrivals.
The decline of Chinese tourists, however, is not only felt in the Philippines but also in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore.
While the decline could be attributed to factors like China’s territorial disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam; the disappearance of flight MH370; Thailand’s instability; and Singapore losing influence as a gateway to aforementioned destinations, it added that these are not the major players.
In the report, it quoted United Nations World Travel Organization’s AsiaPacific director Xu Jing who said that reduction is more about the outbound Chinese market’s maturation and new countries better courting it like Europe and North America.
Like other tourism players, one of Cebu’s prime hotel destinations Marco Polo Plaza Cebu felt the slowing down of Chinese tourists.
“We felt that the number of reservations from Chinese tourists went down, but we tried to compensate it with other markets like Japanese, Koreans, Americans, and the Filipino market,” said Marco Polo Plaza Cebu reservations and revenue manager Jude Pangan at the sidelines of the hotel’s Chinese New Year celebration on Wednesday.
The official added that the absence of direct flight from mainland China to Cebu could also be a factor for the decline.
He recalled that in 2008 and 2009, Marco Polo benefitted mainly in the influx of Chinese tourists when there were chartered flights from Guangzhou, China to Cebu.
Despite the decline, Pangan said the hotel is hopeful that the number of China’s tourists in the Philippines would increase in the coming years.
With its headquarters in HongKong, the official said the hotel is actively marketing itself to the Chinese market among others.
On the eve of the Chinese New Year, Marco Polo opened the celebration with a firecrackers display followed by a lion dance, the Yee Sang or the Prosperity Toss which made use of its signature giant chopsticks tossing the salad into the air, and the dragon dance.
To extend the celebration of the Year of the Wooden Sheep, the hotel is offering “Culinary Impressions of China,” a culinary journey serving Chinese dishes on top of the international buffet until February 22.
The food fest will highlight authentic Chinese dishes like Szechuan chicken, beef steak in Beijing leeks, seafood chow mein noodles, Lo Han chai vegetables and Peking duck to name a few.