Phl: Chinese tourists welcome

MANILA, Philippines - Chinese tourists are welcome to the Philippines and the new visa policy on Chinese passports would not affect tourist arrivals, the government said yesterday.

Raul Hernandez, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman, said the government is hopeful that Chinese tourist arrivals will not be affected.

“I hope they are not worried,” he said. “This will only affect the procedures of stamping our visas. Chinese tourists are all welcome, all who would like to visit the Philippines. We are promising people-to-people exchange, as we have been trying to emphasize. Other aspects of our bilateral relations should move forward.”

Yesterday, China Southern flight CZ 3091 arrived at around 10:20 a.m. with 96 passengers, of whom nine were holding regular Chinese passports.

About 200,000 Chinese tourists arrived in the country last year.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) ruled out yesterday a decline in the number of arriving Chinese tourists despite the government’s decision to stop stamping their passports.

Tourism Assistant Secretary and Tourism Promotions Board chief operating officer Domingo Ramon Enerio III told The STAR the issue is unlikely to affect the country’s international arrivals.

“I do not see any adverse effects to Chinese tourist arrivals in the coming year,” he said. “At the moment, group bookings are doing well especially for the Chinese New Year.”

DOT data showed over 3.4 million foreign tourists visiting the country’s different destinations in the first 10 months of the year, with China accounting for the fourth largest number of travelers during the period.

From January to October, the DOT said, a total of 215,814 Chinese tourists came to the Philippines. The figure was 10.12 percent higher compared to the number of tourists coming from China during the same period last year.

Enerio said DOT officials are now closely working with government and private counterparts in China concerning the new visa procedures.

The DOT will closely monitor developments so that immediate and appropriate action can be undertaken, he added.

Tourism Assistant Secretary and DOT spokesman Benito Bengzon said the DFA’s decision would not have a negative impact on the government’s efforts to lure more foreign tourists to the country.

“We have in fact seen the return of charter flights, particularly to Kalibo from China last Friday (Nov. 30),” he said.

Bengzon said the DOT will continue for the last weeks of 2012 with efforts to reach the target of 4.5 million international arrivals by yearend.

“We will continue with our final push to move closer to achieving our target for the different markets,” he said.

No stamps on passports

Immigration officers have stopped placing arrival and departure stamps on passports of Chinese citizens starting last Monday.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the directive does not apply to diplomatic, official and service passports of Chinese officials.

Antonette Mangrobang, Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokesperson, said David had directed immigration officers to  place their stamps on the back page of a Chinese citizen’s visa application form.

The said visa application must be attached to his or her passport upon the holder’s arrival in a Philippine port of entry and whenever he or she transacts in any of the BI’s field offices, she added.

In case an arriving or departing Chinese citizen holds a passport issued prior to the Foreign Service Circular No. 211-12, the passenger shall be referred to an Immigration supervisor who shall have the passport page bearing the visa photocopied.

The arrival or departure stamp shall then be placed on the photocopied page attached to the passport.

Mangrobang said that the foreign service circular would affect transactions not only at the arrival and departure areas, but most transactions with Chinese citizens like downgrading, extension stamps and conversion.

“It also covers the visa extension and conversion of all the Immigration stamps,” she said. It would be stamped on a separate paper and not on the passport.

All BI field personnel in airports, seaports, district offices and satellite offices have been alerted, Mangrobang said. 

– With Evelyn Macairan, Mayen Jaymalin, Rudy Santos