Don’t Confuse Taiwanese Tourists With Chinese Tourists, Ambassador Quips

Ambassador of Taiwan to the Philippines Gary Song-Huann Lin said that there could be more tourist arrivals from Taiwan to the Philippines if they were registered under the correct country.

During the sidelines of a press conference, the ambassador said that an estimated 200,000 Taiwanese tourists visit the Philippines annually, however this number could be lower in records because immigration officers would confuse Taiwanese tourists as Chinese tourists.

“It can be confusing but it would help to classify the visitor markets better,” he said.

Taiwan is currently seventh largest visitor market to the Philippines with around 150,531 Taiwanese tourists recorded to have visited in from January to December 2015.

For January 2016, tourists from Taiwan reached 15,523 visitors which is an increase of about 30 percent compared to the 11, 804 visitors in the same period in 2015.

The ambassador meanwhile expressed his support anew for efforts of the Aquino administration to boost tourism digits through its “Visit the Philippines 2015” (VPY2015) and “Visit the Philippines Again 2016” (VPA2016) campaigns.

With the launch of Taiwanese low-cost carrier V Air’s maiden flight from Taipei to Manila last Sunday (March 27), he said that he expects tourists from Taiwan to visit the Philippines and likewise, tourists from the Philippines to visit Taiwan.

He further said that inaugural flight was a good follow-up to the amendment of the aviation agreement between Philippines and Taiwan in 2014.

Moreover, he expressed confidence that it will not be long before the Philippines meets its target of acquiring 210,000 visitors from Taiwan annually. (PNA) RMA/ANP