DOT welcomes resumption of charter flights to Boracay
Home> News
ABS-CBN News
MANILA – The Department of Tourism on Monday welcomed group tours and charter flights back to Boracay as the Philippine tourism industry recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DOT said it is optimistic about the “continued recovery of tourism in the country” as major source markets, including China, resume flights to Boracay.
On April 18, Boracay welcomed about 180 Chinese tourists who flew from Changsha, China to Kalibo, Aklan on a chartered flight of OK Airways. It was the first charter flight from China since such travel reopened on Jan. 8.
DOT personnel then welcomed the group of Chinese tourists upon their arrival in Kalibo to “preview Filipino hospitality.”
“We are very pleased to welcome the resumption of charter flights from China to Kalibo. This only proves that Boracay remains a popular destination for Chinese tourists,” Tourism Secretary Cristina Frasco said.
“We will actively promote sustainable and responsible tourism in Boracay so that more people will come to appreciate its beauty in the long run,” Frasco added.
The DOT noted that before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese tourists were the main foreign visitors to Boracay. In 2019, more than 434,000 Chinese citizens visited the island.
By the end of 2019, more than 1.7 million Chinese tourists had also arrived in the Philippines.
Because of this, Frasco has been pushing for visa reforms to make it easier for the Philippines’ key source markets to enter the country.
Since April 11, all Philippine agencies stationed in China have resumed issuing Philippine visas to Chinese tour groups.
“The Department of Transportation expects to match or exceed the number of Chinese tourists we received before the pandemic. We thank our partner agencies, especially the Department of Foreign Affairs, for heeding our call to resume processing and issuing visas for Filipino tourists to China as we indicated Soon after it became necessary to bring China back as our largest source of inbound tourists,” Frasco said.
“We look forward to other interventions such as the implementation of an e-visa system to facilitate entry into the country for our tourists,” she added.
Frasco said earlier that her department intends to stay in close contact with China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MOCT), which earlier listed the Philippines as one of 20 countries to be among its pilot areas for outbound group tours. part.
“The department currently has two satellite offices in mainland China, one in Beijing and the other in Shanghai, to facilitate the promotion and marketing of Philippine tourism to the Chinese market,” the DOT said.
From the archives: