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.
