(Photo/ DOT)
By Katrina Gracia Consebido
Influx of Chinese tourists in the country is expected as China eases its travel restrictions, according to a Department of Tourism (DOT) official on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
About 190 passengers from China were warmly welcomed as they arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Tuesday.
DOT Secretary Christina Frasco said the arrival of Chinese tourists in the country is an indication of a “positive result” following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s state visit to China.
“The arrival of Chinese tourists to the Philippines signals a very auspicious start to the New Year and indicates a positive result of President Bongbong Marcos Jr.’s visit to China to further the relations between our countries,” Frasco said.
“We anticipate even more Chinese tourists to arrive which will greatly help us in our efforts to transform and to recover the tourism industry as our intention is not only to regain our pre-pandemic numbers but to exceed it knowing how the relationship between the Philippines and China will only further improve in the years to come with the stance of both our government,” she added.
Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said that they are confident there will be more Chinese visitors in the Philippines in the coming days that will positively impact the economies of the two countries.
“The recent state visit of President [Marcos Jr.] to China, both presidents of China and the Philippines have agreed to make people to people exchanges as one of the four already areas of cooperation and of course during the visits, our tourism cooperation was actually signed so I think that today’s event is also one of the measures to implement the agreement reached by our two leaders,” Xilian added.
China ranked as the second country with the most number of visitors brought to the Philippines amounting to over 1.7 million visitors next to South Korea. – gb
