PH tourism had “lower-than-expected” volume of Chinese tourists: Maybank

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd claims that a “lower-than-expected” number of Chinese tourists is one reason why the Philippine tourism sector did not perform up to expectations in 2023.

The result has not met expectations, according to Maybank’s analysis staff, even though the economy reopened to tourism in February 2022.

Over the first eleven months of 2023, there were 4.82 million foreign visitors to the Philippines, more than there were during the whole year of 2022 (2.65 million). Nonetheless, Maybank’s study shows that it is still much less than the 8.26 million arrivals in 2019, the year before the pandemic.

Although the return of foreign tourists, as well as domestic travel, are anticipated to benefit the Philippine casino industry in 2023, Maybank said that present performance falls short of projections. In its third-quarter results, Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the operator of Manila’s Entertainment City’s Solaire Resort & Casino, said that domestic gaming demand remained strong in spite of the country’s deteriorating economy.

Chinese visitors made up 21.2 percent of all foreign arrivals in the Philippines in 2019, but in the first 11 months of 2023, this percentage dropped to 5.0 percent, according to Maybank. During this period, there were just 242,107 Chinese visits recorded, as opposed to 1.74 million in 2019.

In terms of the macroeconomic outlook for the Philippines in 2024, Maybank projects higher economic growth of +6.5 percent, up from +5.8 percent in 2023. Growth will probably be driven by domestic demand, which will be supported by robust private consumption, stable employment, and ongoing infrastructure development.

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Original story by: GGRAsia