MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines was unable to meet its projections for international tourists as the number of Chinese travelers to the country dwindled, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said on Friday, January 10.
Frasco said the government projected 7.7 million foreign arrivals for 2024, but the Department of Tourism (DOT) only recorded 5.9 million. She acknowledged that there have been challenges in meeting the target.
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“Nobody could have anticipated that geopolitics would ultimately seep into arrivals from China considering that the electronic visas for the Chinese market were suspended and this is in stark contrast to the policies of our ASEAN neighbors,” Frasco said.
The DOT was expecting over 2 million Chinese tourists by the end of 2024. However, only 300,000 were recorded.
“I can only speak to the raw data that has been provided to us on the basis of the arrivals themselves and without drawing conclusions, the clear difference between the Chinese arrivals in the pandemic which exceeded one million and the Chinese arrivals as of 2024 which is a little over 300,000 would show that the barriers to entry into the Philippines including and chiefly the suspension of the electronic visa gravely affected the Chinese market for the Philippines,” she added.
The Philippines indefinitely suspended the issuance of e-visa in December 2023. The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to resume it.
Frasco did not attribute the decline in Chinese tourists to the closure of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in the country.
POGOs, which became a hotbed of criminal activity, were banned in 2024. In addition to criminal activities such as human trafficking and scamming, POGOs raised concerns about the authenticity of government-issued documents like birth certificates and passports.
Frasco said there are other nations from which the country could tap foreign tourists, with South Korea being the number one source market.
Despite the lower turnout of travelers, Frasco said the DOT still managed to generate P760 billion in revenue from foreign tourists, a 9% increase from 2023.
Frasco said the DOT also had a lower marketing budget. In 2023, it was P1.2 billion, but in 2024, it was reduced to P200 million.
To recall, the DOT's "Love the Philippines" campaign drew criticism in 2023 after it was revealed that foreign stock footage was used in its promotional video. The campaign received widespread criticism from lawmakers and made global headlines.