1,500 Chinese tourists arrive in Cebu out of 10,000 target

Red Storm Rising. Mainland Chinese descend in Cebu by the thousands.

Business Mirror
Monday, 02 February 2009 21:01


CEBU—Some 1,500 Chinese tourists arrived in Cebu the past week, the first batch of around 10,000 visitors that a China-based leisure company and its Filipino partner want to bring to this island in 2009 alone.

Six full Cathay Pacific chartered flights arrived in Cebu as early as January 25, with many others coming in by regular commercial flights through Hong Kong and Manila.

The tourists went around Cebu City and the beaches of Badian Island in the south, while others went to the neighboring island of Bohol.

“The Philippines has a lot to offer to Chinese tourists,” said Wei Nian Bu, general manager of leisure company Dong Fang International Travel Services Ltd., based in Guangzhou.

“There will be more Chinese tourists coming to the Philippines from China, especially to Cebu,” he said through an interpreter.

The visitors, mostly from Guangdong, Fujian and Shanghai, were treated by Dong Fang to a grand dinner at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

While the adults danced to Chinese, Filipino and Western music, a special playground facility was built for the children at the back portion of the grand hall.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the Chinese market presents a new growth area for Cebu tourism. She said the cultural connection between Cebuanos and the Chinese is very apparent, while Cebu’s natural resources is something that the Chinese appreciate.

“While in other places we only hear of gloomy news, in Cebu, we give everybody a glimmer of hope,” the governor said during a press conference.

“Other cities of the world have Chinatowns. In Cebu , the entire city is a Chinatown. I can say all of Cebuanos have Chinese blood in them.”

The governor said the population of China alone posts a huge potential for Cebu, and the proximity between the two countries is also an advantage for the local tourism industry.

At present, however, there are only four direct flights a week between Cebu and Guanzhou.

Allan Dino, vice president of Donga Fang Leisure Philippines, said the tourists loved the beaches in Cebu and Bohol but they had problems with the accommodations, since most of the hotels and resorts are packed with the Chinese New Year celebrations—a regular peak season for Cebu ’s tourism industry. “But the beaches and the natural resources are perfect and they all loved it,” he said.

Tourism Undersecretary Phineas Alburo said China remains the fifth-biggest market for Cebu, but is one of the fastest-growing markets.

Tourist arrivals slow in 2008 but still up 2%; flat growth seen this year

Business Mirror
Monday, 02 February 2009 00:18

THE Department of Tourism announced a slower but positive 2-percent growth in the number of foreign arrivals in the country in 2008, but is projecting a flat growth in 2009, as the country’s biggest markets continue to reel from the impact of the global recession.

Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said the decrease in the number of tourists coming in from Japan, Korea and the United States slowed down the sector. In 2008, arrivals reached 3.2 million, significantly lower than the 3.5-million target of the department.

He said, however, that the Philippines continues to fare better than its Southeast Asian neighbors. The country’s tourism sector grew close to nine percent in 2007.

“A zero percent growth in a market in decline is like a double-digit growth in a market in good times,” Durano told reporters in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu on Friday.

Durano was guest in the formal presentation of the declaration placing the Imperial Palace Water Park Resort and Spa in Cebu as a special tourism economic zone.

He said that while Japan posted a -7-percent growth in arrivals, Korea -9 percent, and the United States -1 percent, emerging markets like Russia, France and the United Kingdom posted double-digit growth along with steady growths from Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.  

Durano also lauded the efforts of the private sector which continues to invest in beefing up facilities of the industry.

The P5-billion investment of BXT Philippines Corp. on the eight-hectare 556-room Imperial Palace, arguably the biggest existing investment in the country, will also help solve the perennial problems of lack of quality accommodations in the country, especially in Cebu.

“These international companies have their own marketing efforts and this will put the country in a very strategic position when the market bounces back,” he said. “These investments will be adding to our competitiveness in the global market.”

Being in a tourism economic zone, Imperial Palace enjoyed free import duties and tax holidays. The resort is set to have a soft opening in March with full opening in April this year. The resort plans to hire 1,500 employees when if goes full swing in its operations.

Park Jong Whan, president of Phil BXT Corp., said the tax holidays they are enjoying are a big help to their investment.

“This project started during a short visit to the Philippines and Cebu and this opened our eyes to the world-class destination potential,” he said. “We also experienced firsthand the hospitality of the Filipinos which made us decide to stay.

BXT started as Busan Express Bus terminal in Korea, which later expanded to BXT Resort Development in 2005. BXT entered into a partnership with Taihan Electronics Wire Co. Ltd. of South Korea to establish Phil BXT Corp.

The operator of the property, Imperial Palace, runs several hotels in Korea and Japan.