Chinese now 3rd largest group of visitors to Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Chinese tourists are now the third largest largest group of visitors to the Philippines as of the end of July this year, dislodging Japanese arrivals and sticking close to Korea and the US.

Visitor arrivals to the country reached an unprecedented 4.3 million visitors last year.

In the span of 10 years, Chinese tourists were able to leap forward from 11th place in 2004 to 5th place in 2005, moving to 4th place from 2006 to 2012, until it landed in 3rd place in July 2013.

Data from the National Statistical Coordination Board show that the growth of 209.1 percent in July 2013 alone is one of the highest since this market registered a 359 percent and 211.7 percent increase in November and December 2005, respectively.

“The feat achieved by this market shows its growth potential in the succeeding years, which would likely achieve its target set in the NTDP for 2016,” Tourism Undersecretary Daniel Corpuz said in a report submitted to the statistical board.

Average annual gross income of Chinese visitors was $16,363, which was lower than the average annual gross income of all visitors to the Philippines at $41,630.

Based on the arrival/departure cards of the Bureau of Immigration and the results of the visitor sample survey of the Department of Tourism, majority or 53.8 percent of mainland Chinese arrivals were males, while females accounted for 44.4 percent.

Average age of Chinese tourists was 35 years old, younger than the recorded average age of tourists in the Philippines at 38 years old.

Bulk of the visitors or 66.0 percent were married. Singles made up 33.1 percent, while the widowed/separated/divorced represented 0.9 percent of the total.

Visitors with university or college degrees were the largest segment in 2012 at 57.1 percent, followed by those who had reached at most high school and vocational education at 26.3 percent.

Visitors in the professional, managerial and administrative category constituted the biggest segment of visitors in the country in 2012 at 30.1 percent.  Students and minors formed the second largest group with 7.6 percent.

Visitors in the clerical, sales and services category and housewives comprised 5.4 percent and 2.4 percent of the total visitors, respectively.

A Chinese visitor spent an average of 8.6 nights in the country in 2012.  This is longer compared to the average length of stay of 7.8 nights in 2011.

Corpuz expressed optimism that the country’s tourism industry would reach the 10-million visitor arrival target for 2016.

The potentials for tourism as a mechanism of inclusive growth are being recognized.

Caraga is the only region in the country that had statistically significant reduction in poverty rates from the first semester of 2009 to the first semester of 2012. Most poverty analysts would indicate that tourism, aside from mining, contributed to Caraga’s income growth and reduced poverty.

In the past years, the tourism industry has seen a steady growth in inbound visitors with the year 2012 recording an increase of 9.1 percent. Likewise, visitor volume from the country’s major markets continued to grow robustly, some even registering double-digit gains.