The Department of Tourism (DOT) will step up efforts in China this week to promote the country as a visitor’s haven.
DOT Secretary Wanda Teo will meet with investors and Chinese tour operators.
“We’d like them to rediscover the Philippines, the bountiful trade and industrial hub where the Chinese traders came to long before Spanish colonization,” Teo said.
One of the important highlights of the visit is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Philippines and China on Tourism Cooperation.
The said agreement was signed by Secretary Teo and China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Chairman Li Jinzao yesterday in the presence of the Heads of States of China and Philippines.
“China’s invitation to President Rodrigo Duterte for State visit in Beijing bodes well for Philippine tourism, as the Chinese comprise the country’s second biggest visitor group,” said the DOT head.
Chinese arrivals to the Philippines peaked at 490,841 in 2015, at least 24.28 percent higher than the 2014 recorded arrivals of 394,951.
From January to July this year, a total of 422,801 Chinese tourists have visited the Philippines, placing third with 11.95 percent of the market share, following South Korea and the US.
Teo said more organized tours from mainland China are scheduled within the next two months, following the visit of 2000 tourists from Guangzhou to Boracay on board Royal Caribbean cruise ship Legend of the Seas.
“We target 12 million annual international visitor arrival in 2022. Hopefully, we would no longer lag far behind our Asian neighbors in terms of tourism” Teo said.