Philippines Grants Chinese Tourists Visa-Free Entry For Up To 14 Days

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

The Philippines is wooing more Chinese tourists to come to the country by granting visa-free entry for up to 14 days, beginning Friday, January 16.

The visa-free entry, however, is only for tourism or business purposes only.“The privilege allows for a non-extendable 14-day stay, which is non-convertible to any other type of Philippine visa category,” said the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

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Tourism is a major economic driver in the Philippines, and China used to be among the top sources of tourists to the Philippines but it has experienced the weakest recovery in Chinese arrivals among Southeast Asian nations, following the pandemic.

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Back in 2019, more than 1.8 million Chinese tourists visited the Philippines. Five years later, or at the end of 2024, only more than 312,000 Chinese tourists went to the Philippines, a far cry from what Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore received in the same year, when they hosted about 3.7 million, 3.3 million, and 3 million Chinese tourists respectively.

The sharp decline in the arrival of Chinese tourists was attributed to visa restrictions, including the temporary suspension of e-visas for Chinese nationals.

A report last week by Manila-based PhilStar Global quoted Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco saying:“The clear difference between the Chinese arrivals (prior to the) pandemic which exceeded one million and the Chinese arrivals as of 2024 which is a little over 300,000 would show that the barriers to entry into the Philippines including and chiefly the suspension of the electronic visa gravely affected the Chinese market for the Philippines.”

Meanwhile, China is the latest country that was granted visa-free entry privileges by the Philippines. Back in June last year, Indians were allowed to enter the Philippines for 14 or 30 days without a visa.

Now, Chinese nationals will only need to show the following to enter the Philippines:

• A passport valid for at least six months beyond the contemplated stay

• Confirmed hotel accommodation/booking

• Return or onward ticket to the next country of destination

According to DFA, the new visa-free entry arrangement for Chinese tourists will be in effect for one year,“and will be reviewed accordingly before it expires.”

“To ensure that security and public order are maintained while facilitating the entry of legitimate travellers, checks on derogatory records of travellers will continue to apply,” DFA added.

There is, however, no reciprocal gesture for Filipinos travelling to China as they still need to apply for visas to go there.

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