It is still a wait-and-see for Boracay’s tourism and events industry, as arrivals from China, once the island’s biggest market, remain scant and uncertain.
While the Philippine government rolled out e-visas for Chinese nationals mid-2023 amid much hype, the policy was soon suspended indefinitely.
“No news on when they will put back the e-visa for the Chinese,” said Mary Ann Ong, general manager inbound, Bridges Travel, as she confirmed “still no sign of inbound traffic from China” to Boracay.
Other reasons Ong cited for the scant Chinese incentive trips and business events are that “domestic flights plus hotel prices are higher compared to our neighbouring countries”.
Industry sources also suspect geopolitics at play, with government tensions over territorial issues and illegal, overstaying Chinese nationals employed by online gaming operators in the Philippines challenging genuine Chinese tourists and event attendees wanting to enter the Philippines.
Megaworld Hotels and Resorts has partnered with global sales agents for a presence in China while waiting for the Chinese to return.
“The entire market has been waiting for Chinese travellers. The MICE preparedness is increasing, there are a number of MICE venues, a lot of us can host big groups. The deliberate intention to attract MICE business is there. Having had some pause for some time, we are all very eager to do more,” said managing director Cleofe Albiso.
“We need the volume. It’s good we have the domestic market filling in the days, but we would love to go back to the level of volume of occupancy that we used to have,” added Albiso, who has Savoy and Belmont Hotels, and Boracay Newcoast Convention Center under her wing.
Certain activities banned in Boracay as part of its rehabilitation are being restored to attract foreign guests. The municipal government of Malay recently permitted beach parties and is likely to again allow temporary structures like umbrellas and chairs on the beach.
Lea Wong, director of sales and marketing, The Muse Hotel Boracay, suggested that the NTO should tap other MICE markets such as the Middle East and Australia, which have shown promise in the past.
The NTO should give more international marketing focus not just on Cebu, Bohol and other destinations, but also Boracay, once the crown jewel of Philippine tourism, Wong added.
C9 Hotelworks managing director Bill Barnett said the Philippine government needed initiatives to make tourism a priority, including a visa liberalisation policy.
Barnett measured the extent of “destination fatigue” for Boracay not just for the Chinese, but for other foreign travellers as well. The foreign share of tourists has dropped to 20 per cent, but that is plugged by domestic tourism, compared with 50/50 foreign/Filipino market split going back to 2018 and 2019.
The uncertainty is also worrying industry players across the Philippines, causing the Tourism Promotions Board to skip this year’s IT&CM China. “We’d like to gauge first how the Chinese incentive travel outbound market is performing, how it is being affected by the current economic slump, before we go back to the Chinese tradeshow,” a tourism official explained.
