By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
THE Philippine tourism industry appears to be the first casualty of the ruling on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague, with hotels and resorts reporting cancellation of bookings by Chinese tourists.
Destinations that have been mostly affected are Boracay, Cebu and Bohol, according to tourism industry sources, with estimated losses reaching at least P20 million.
Arthur M. Lopez, president of the Philippine Hotel Owners Association Inc. (PHOA), told the BusinessMirror the cancellations of Chinese guests bookings were being attributed to the “cancellation of charter flights to the Philippines,” an effect of the PCA ruling.
This developed even as the Department of Tourism (DOT) said it has not received any information of cancellations by Chinese tourists due to the PCA ruling.
“We have not received any cancellation reports,” DOT Undersecretary for Media Affairs Katherine de Castro said. She added, “We have an order from Malacañang that any issue connected to the WPS [West Philippine Sea] dispute, only the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] can provide a statement.”
While there is no official travel ban to the Philippines, a tourism industry source in China said, the Beijing “government has told some travel agents to take out the Philippines from their tour [because of the PCA ruling]. Just like what happened four years back.”
The source was referring to the beginning of the diplomatic dispute between the Philippines and China in 2012, which resulted in an unofficial travel ban by the Beijing government.
The Chinese cancellations dragged down total visitor arrivals in the Philippines to only 4.3 million, lower than the DOT’s target of 4.6 million arrivals for 2012. This year the DOT is targeting Chinese arrivals to reach 1 million out of 10 million total visitor arrivals.
An industry source in Cebu said initial computations show losses of at least P14 million, after a local travel agency reported the cancellation of one chartered flight, which would have carried 194 Chinese guests. The travel agency CYH Islands International Tourist and Travel in Mandaue City said the Chinese guests were supposed to stay three to four nights in Cebu and another three to four nights in Bohol.
“At about P5,000 per day, per guest, the losses could reach P14 million,” the source said. About 10 hotels in Cebu and Bohol were affected by the cancellations. “The reason given is the conflict between the two countries [China and the Philippines],” the source said, adding that the travel agent has already expressed concern that more cancellations would follow. CYH is one of the biggest sources of Chinese guests for Cebu, bringing in about 10 chartered flights every month.
For his part, PHOA’s Lopez said: “One resort reported that they already lost P5 milion worth of business from China due to cancellations of charter flights.” He added, “China is apparently not extending permits to charter flights.”
For one, the Quest Hotel in Cebu City received cancellations of its Chinese guests for “about 400 room nights,” said a hotel source who requested anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak on the matter. This is equivalent to “about a million pesos” in business losses, the source added. “We just got a letter from the travel agent partners in China for the Chengdu-Cebu charter that they are canceling.”
While no reason was given for the cancellation, the hotel source assumes that this has something to do with the July 16 ruling of the PCA rebuffing China’s historical claims over islands and atolls in the West Philippine Sea.
Julie Najar, president of the Cebu Hotel Resort and Restaurant Association, said, “There have been no reports of major issues in relation to cancellation of bookings. It’s business as usual, although this may change in the months to come.”
In Boracay a separate industry source disclosed that his initial report showed cancellations by Chinese guests were for “287 rooms for booking dates from July 14 to August 30, 2016.” The amount of losses have yet to be calculated, he said, but Boracay, world famous for its long white beach, contributes about 35 percent to 40 percent to the national total for Chinese arrivals.
In 2015 there were 1.56 million visitors to Boracay, of which, Chinese tourists accounted for 177,296, making them the second- largest group of nationalities, after South Koreans.
About 490,841 visitors from mainland China traveled to the Philippines in 2015, up 24.3 percent from 2014. China ranked fourth in the total number of foreign visitors to the Philippines in 2015.
4 comments
Philippine DOT should NOT rely on chinese tourist, They are unpredictable as long as SCS is NOT Resolve.
This boycott shall pass, meanwhile, the country should tap into other sources, perhaps the domestic market, to fill the rooms and generate revenue, maybe not as big as the foreigners can.
REALITY CHECK……Hahahahah…..DOT and Casino operators have relied on a Superpower seeking hegemony on their smaller neighbours for a long time. Time to wake-up and have a REALITY CHECK….Tap other countries which with you dont share borders…those people dont want to colonize you.
A reason to develop local tourism, the better alternative.