MANILA, Philippines - Despite the travel advisory, tourists from Hong Kong and China are slowly coming back three weeks after the Manila hostage-taking incident that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong vacationers, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said yesterday.
“Our information is that tourists are already coming in from Hong Kong. It appears that our fears (of a backlash) were overblown,” he told the House appropriations committee chaired by Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya.
Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, a committee member, supported Lim’s revelation.
Benitez, who was into gaming and entertainment before seeking a congressional seat, said flights from Macau to the 700-room Sun City gaming complex in Sta. Ana, Cagayan continued even after the hostage incident.