Spring Festival week

By Jacky Lynne A. Oiga

February 6, 2011, 2:18am

Boracay

 MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DoT) offices in China and top tour operators in the Philippines are expecting close to 3,500 Chinese tourists going to the Philippines for the Spring Festival week, with arrivals expected within the first week of February.

Spring Festival is one of the two most important festivals in China. The holiday started in February 2, along with the 2011 Chinese New Year last Thursday, and will end on February 8th.The festival is celebrated grandly and extensively across China. But more Chinese citizens choose this week to go out and travel.

Philippine Consular and Tourism offices in China are open despite the long Spring Festival holiday because of continued bookings and applications for visa issuances for travel to the Philippines. Among the top-selling Philippine destinations this year are Boracay and Cebu, with the new available chartered flights to Kalibo direct from Shanghai and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China.

Arrivals from China posted a 20.9% increase in 2010, while Hong Kong and Taiwan posted 8.9 percent and 39.29 percent increases in arrivals, respectively. The uptrend is a positive indication of renewed confidence from this source market comprised of more than 13 percent of the total tourist arrivals to the Philippines in 2010.

This market is anticipated to push continued growth as activities are undertaken to reposition the country as a safe and secure tourist destination. As a gesture of goodwill to the tour groups, the DoT is providing tourist assistance services to all Chinese visitors.

Source: Manila Bulletin