THE number of Chinese tourists to the Philippines fell by 50 percent to 19,530 in October 2014 from October 2013, following the Chinese government’s ban on its residents from traveling to the Philippines last September.
The huge drop in Chinese travelers in October pulled down the total visitor arrivals from the market by 3.2 percent to 354,202 from January to October 2014, according to data from the Department of Tourism (DOT). On a month-on-month basis, arrivals from China slowed down by 25 percent in October 2014 from September 2014, when the travel advisory was issued.
The DOT and the private sector remained optimistic, however, that, with the recent holiday season, as well as the strong promotions of the local travel industry, the increased arrival of other foreign tourists will make up for the contraction in the Chinese market.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Tourism Spokesman and Undersecretary for Market Development Benito Bengzon Jr. said: “The travel advisory issued in September 2014 has slowed down visitor arrivals from China [in October 2014]. Overall, however, total foreign visitor arrivals in the country for the first 10 months of last year still posted an increase of over 2 percent.”
He added, as November and December are traditionally peak travel months, “we expect the overall growth rate to increase once the final figures [for 2014] are collected.”
Despite the dip in Chinese travelers, the DOT reported that the market contributed P7.55 billion in tourism receipts from January to October 2014, making them the fifth-largest spenders during the period.
The Chinese government issued a travel advisory in September last year due to a spate of kidnappings and killings of Chinese citizens in the Philippines.
For her part, Aileen Clemente, president of Rajah Travel Corp., said the fall in the Chinese market was anticipated, and, as such, “the portfolio of top tourist arrivals will just have to change. While there will be a slowdown, we have not stopped efforts in promoting to other destinations.”
She added that, with the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations into one economic community this year, more foreign tourists will visit the country. “We are stronger in our promotion of the region and not just the Philippines.”
The private sector believes that the DOT missed its foreign-visitor arrivals target of 6.8 million in 2014, due to the lingering impact of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan), which struck the Visayas region in late 2013, the migration of the South Korean market to other cheaper Asia-Pacific destinations and the Chinese travel ban.
Meanwhile, DOT data showed, from January to October 2014, visitor arrivals grew by 2.3 percent to 3.96 million, generating total tourism receipts of P172.65 billion, up by 7.14 percent from the same period in 2013.
For October 2014 alone, visitor arrivals rose by 0.14 percent to 358,876, almost unchanged from October 2013’s arrivals. Tourism receipts in October 2014 were up 8 percent to almost P15 billion.
South Korea accounted for 28 percent of total tourism receipts for the 10-month period at P48.62 billion, followed by the US (P33.61 billion); Australia (P11.04 billion); and Japan (P8.98 billion).
Foreign visitors spent an average of P4,863.26 per person, daily in October 2014, up by 10.7 percent from October 2013. They also stayed up to 10.12 nights per person, 16.06 percent longer than the same month in 2013. On an average per-capita basis, foreign visitors spent P49,216.19 during their stay in the Philippines.
The top visitor markets for the 10-month period to October 2014 were South Korea (958,289 arrivals); the US (592,204), Japan (382,633); China (354,202); Australia (173,954); Singapore (146,996); Taiwan (121,077); Hong Kong (94,398), Canada (111,391); Malaysia (110,407); the United Kingdom (107,499); and Germany (57,847).