China remains upbeat on Phl tourism

CHENGDU, Sichuan – China remains upbeat about increasing tourism in Manila even if there are some security concerns and travel warnings issued by the government to its citizens planning to come to the Philippines.

This became evident yesterday after the Chinese embassy in Manila revealed that a note verbale has been sent to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the creation of a consulate in Davao City. The Philippines has also been tapped to put up a consulate office here.

“People from here want to go to the Philippines. So the Philippine government and Chinese embassy officials in Manila have agreed to set up a consulate here in Chengdu,” an embassy official said.

The Chinese embassy wants to put up a consulate in Davao City to enable the ministry to speed up the processing of visas of citizens who will visit the tourist spots in Southern Philippines.

“More and more Chengdu people want to go to the Philippines,” the official said.

Chengdu is one of the fastest-growing cities in China.

At least 153 of the world’s top 500 enterprises had settled in the city as of December 2011.

Among these are ANZ Bank, Intel Corporation, Symantec, DHL, Maersk, Greater China of Cisco, Ubisoft, Erickson, Mediatek and FAW Toyota Motors.

The revenue of the city’s software and outsourcing industry had jumped from RMB6.6 billion in 2003 to RMB86.3 billion in 2010.

Despite the issuance of a travel advisory to their citizens, the Chinese embassy has invited a 15-member Philippine media delegation to this fast developing city.