Li Xionghui, assistant general manager of Xiamen Heping Company, which manages the port/cruise terminal, said nearly 2,000 Chinese tourists sailed to the Philippines (Manila and Boracay) last July 7 for a five-day cruise onboard the SkySea Cruise Line’s Golden Era.
CDN PHOTO/CRIS EVERT LATO-RUFFOLO
Xiamen — It was 3:30 p.m. on a Tuesday and Li Lin and her four friends were lining up at the counter of Xiamen Air for the 6 p.m. flight to Manila.
The plan is to fly from Xiamen to Manila and then spend two days to explore Tagaytay and then go around Manila.
After Manila, they will go to Bohol to enjoy the beach and its natural scenery for three days. From Bohol, they will take a boat to Cebu to do some shopping. They will then take the direct flight from Cebu to Xiamen.
Unlike other Chinese citizens who were in the same Manila-bound flight, the four travelers in their early 20s were not part of a tour group. They speak conversational English or what Li described as “just enough English to get by.”
“We have friends who have traveled in the Philippines and they told us that it’s an interesting country to visit because of the beautiful spots. They also said it’s like China because there are many overseas Chinese. We heard everyone speaks English. We want to experience it ourselves,” said Li, a 22-year-old international studies student.
With stronger China-Philippine relations, the number of Chinese tourists — estimated to reach at least one million arrivals by the end of 2017 — is expected to exponentially increase compared to the previous years.
In an interview in Beijing, China urged the Philippine tourism department to strengthen marketing efforts to entice more tourists to visit the country following the observance of 2017 as the China-Asean Year of Tourism Cooperation.
Yan Xu, division chief of the international relations department of the China National Tourism Administration, said being more visible in the Chinese market through promotional activities will help bring in more Chinese tourists in the Philippines.
China logged 675,700 arrivals in 2016 making it the third largest source of foreign tourist market. Of this number, 244,925 tourists visited Central Visayas where the popular tourist destinations of Cebu and Bohol belong.
Department of Tourism recorded 388,896 tourist arrivals from China or 13.4 percent of the total inbound traffic in the first half of 2017.
Yan said China’s tourism administration will work with the Philippines’ Department of Tourism and the private sector to improve hospitality services such as providing Chinese-speaking tour guides and tourism brochures and pamphlets in Chinese. They are also working with the private sector to make Chinese TV stations available and provide Chinese-style breakfast.
Cruise
Five cruise lines operate at Xiamen’s International Cruise Terminal where tourists visit the Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. These cruise lines also sail to Japan and South Korea.
Li Xiong Hui, assistant general manager of Xiamen Heping Company, the agency which operates the terminal, said SkySea Cruise Line is the newest cruise company that has sailed from Xiamen.
Earlier this month, nearly 2,000 passengers were onboard the cruise ship, SkySea Golden Era last July 7 and sailed to Manila and Boracay in the Philippines for five days.
As the Chinese market matures to include leisure travel via cruise ships, Li said the port terminal will add another cruise birth from the existing two. It can accommodate ships weighing 220,000 tons.
Visa
With bilateral relations gaining upward momentum, Yan said they are also expecting more Filipinos to visit China.
But the possibility of a visa-free policy for Filipinos traveling to China would still take some time.
“From the Chinese point of view, we are committed to further streamlining the visas of Filipinos. But it takes time as this streamlining initiative requires consultations with a number of relevant department on Chinese sector,” he told Filipino reporters in Beijing.
“It’s the responsibility of the foreign affairs of both sides. From a tourism authority’s point of view, we’ll push for it. We look forward to see a positive result,” added Yan.
For those who are planning to travel to China, Yang encouraged travelers to go outside the big cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and explore less-known cities and towns.
He said tourists should make their way to the Western part of China, a place endowed with rich tourism resource. He named Xi-an and Tibet as beautiful destinations.
“China is a good country with much to offer in terms of culture and nature,” he said adding that China now has 52 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Great Wall, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven, all located in Beijing are in this list. Just this month, Gulangyu Island (also known as Kulangsu) in Fujian Province obtained the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status.