Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda knows exactly why the number of Chinese tourists in the Philippines has been dwindling--and its not because of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
Salceda, during a public hearing of the House Committee on Labor and Employment Wednesday, Oct. 19, underscored that Covid-19 was the culprit for the measly tourist arrivals from China.
“China has been actually implementing a no tourist policy,” he told the House panel chaired by Rizal 4th district Rep. Fidel Nograles.
During the hearing, the Bicol solon shared data that showed that the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals in the Philippines was consistent with the drop in outbound Chinese tourists worldwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Figures shared by Salceda showed that between 2019 and 2020, there was a massive drop of 90.2 percent in Chinese tourists bound for the Philippines--quite similar to the 88.4 percent decrease in Chinese tourists who traveled to different parts of the globe.
Between 2019 and 2022, the figures showed an even larger 99.4 percent drop in Chinese tourists visiting the Philippines; but this coincided with the 94.5 percent drop in Chinese tourists who traveled abroad in the same period.
Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said the drop-off in numbers were similar for Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two nations that, like the Philippines, also had POGOs in their jurisdictions.
“Kitang-kita naman dito na wala naman diperensya kung may POGO ka o wala kang POGO...Talaga naman wala namang turista pinapalabas ang China dahil sa zero Covid policy nila (It's very clear here that having POGO or not having POGO doesn't make a difference...China never really allowed tourists to travel because of their zero Covid policy)," he pointed out.
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Salceda noted that it was “highly speculative" for the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to relate POGOs with Chinese tourists.
"The Chinese Ambassador was quick to clarify the statements that were attributed to some of our leaders...At mismo si Chinese ambassador nagsabi na walang relasyon ang dalawa (and the Chinese ambassador himself said there's no relation between the two)," the economist-solon further said.
After Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri announced last week that China had placed the Philippines on a “black list” due to the presence of POGOs in the country, the Chinese Embassy immediately issued a statement to clarify that the Philippines was on no such black list.
"Before the Covid-19 pandemic close to two million Chinese nationals traveled to the Philippines in 2019, making China the second largest source of tourists. We expect more Chinese tourists to come to this country after the pandemic," the embassy also said.
POGOs first existed in the Philippines in as early as 2003.