IT is China’s no-tourist policy, and not the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs), that explains the drop in Chinese tourist arrivals in the country, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said on Wednesday.
This was stressed by Salceda during the consultation held by the labor and employment panel in Congress.
According to Salceda, data that showed that the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals in the Philippines was consistent with the drop in outbound Chinese tourists worldwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic—an explanation that was carried by the BusinessMirror as it crunched the Chinese tourist arrivals date when the story first broke about an alleged “blacklist” where Beijing had included Manila, on account, supposedly for its continued hosting of POGOs, which is deemed illegal in China.
According to the BusinessMirror, the decline was consistent with China’s restrictions on outbound Chinese tourists as it pursued its zero-Covid policy.
On Wednesday, Salceda cited data showing that between 2019 and 2020 there was a drop of 90.2 percent in Chinese tourists bound for the Philippines, similar to the 88.4-percent decrease in Chinese tourists that traveled to different parts of the globe.
Between 2019 and 2022, he said the figures showed a 99.4-percent drop in Chinese tourists visiting the Philippines, coinciding with the 94.5-percent drop in Chinese tourists that traveled abroad in the same period.
These figures were also similar for Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates, two nations that also allow POGOs in their jurisdictions, he added.
“With or without POGO…actually no tourists are allowed out of China because of their zero Covid policy,” Salceda said.
“China has been actually implementing a no tourist policy,” said the Bicolano lawmaker, who explained that it was “highly speculative” for the National Economic and Development Authority to relate POGOs with Chinese tourists.
He added, “The Chinese Ambassador was quick to clarify the statements that were attributed to some of our leaders.”
After Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri announced recently that China had placed the Philippines on a “blacklist” due to the presence of POGOs in the country, the Chinese Embassy immediately issued a statement that clarified that the Philippines was on no such blacklist.