Philippines woos China tourists

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - China is one of the fastest-growing markets for Philippine tourism with tourist arrivals from China posting an annual growth rate of 18 percent, officials said. The number of Chinese tourists in the Philippines reached 200,000 in 2010, Philippine tourism and foreign affairs officials said. With rising incomes in China, the country's outbound travelers is expected to reach 100 million by 2020, making it the strongest source of tourists in Asia and the world, said Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim, who was in Beijing from Sunday to Wednesday (April 10-13).


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. In his meeting with his China National Tourism Administration Chairman Shao Qi Wei in Beijing Monday, Lim said that China is a "very important market for Philippine tourism." He said Aquino administration is working hard to improve infrastructure, facilities, and services in preparation for the arrival of more Chinese tourists."
 
The Philippine Embassy in Beijing reported that Lim told Shao that the Philippines was hoping to double the number of tourist arrivals in the Philippines from three million to six million by 2016. He expects that China, as a close neighbor of the Philippines 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. A bus hostage incident in Manila that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead recently soured relations between the Philippines and China, especially after President Benigno Aquino brushed aside recommendations that officials and police blamed for mishandling the case face stiff penalties.