The Philippines is among the 20 countries identified by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism to be part of its pilot areas for outbound tourism group tours.
The other countries include neighboring ASEAN nations Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, as well as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Argentina, Cuba, and Fiji.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the government of the People’s Republic of China for identifying the Philippines as one of the first 20 countries where group tours are allowed.”
“I would like to express my gratitude to the government of the People’s Republic of China for identifying the Philippines as one of the first 20 countries where group tours are allowed,” Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said.
“The Philippines is open and ready to welcome our friends from China as we continue to improve the relationship between our two nations which spans millennia. We welcome you to the Philippines and we cannot wait to let you feel the warmth of the Filipino people and to enjoy our award-winning beach destinations and all our nature-based offerings,” Frasco stressed.
“We look forward to all of you visiting our country.”
“The Philippines is a country blessed with many islands, a wealth of cultural offerings, wonderful food, and the warmth of the Filipino people. And we look forward to all of you visiting our country,” the tourism chief added.
At the time when the Philippines recorded an 8.26 million all-time high international visitor arrivals in 2019, China ranked as the second country with the most number of visitors brought to the Philippines reaching to over 1.7 million visitors next to South Korea.
But as the Chinese government imposed lockdown measures, outbound Chinese tourists declined over time.
The upward trend of arrivals is now seen where as of January 24, 2023, China earned the 10th spot in terms of international tourist arrivals with 6,673 visitors with almost half or 45.68 percent visiting the Philippines for holiday or pleasure.
