MANILA — The Philippines must look at other markets besides China to boost its tourism, the managing director of a hospitality think-tank said Monday.

Speaking at the sidelines of their company’s partnership with hotel management giant Accor, Cebu-based Tytans Properties and Development Chairman Gerard Tan said tourism in Cebu is not yet back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Pre-pandemic means there will be Chinese tourists. We haven’t gotten much of the Chinese tourists yet,” he said.

Tan attributed the slowdown in Chinese tourists to the slowing Chinese economy and their government’s strict policy on deciding who gets out of the country.

“I think the Koreans are still the main tourists in Cebu because there are at least 5 direct flights every day, and then I think the Japanese are coming in also, and some of the Europeans are also exploring this area.”

The executive noted, however, that they are also eyeing tourists from Metro Manila for their hotel and residence development in Mactan.

Hotel manager Accor to bring largest Pullman property to Cebu 

“We should be self-sustainable also in terms of tourism. Why let other people go out when you have so many nice things here in Cebu?” he said.

Asked when he sees tourism recovering to pre-pandemic levels in Cebu, Tan paused before noting that the pandemic was “the worst economic thing that ever happened in the world.”

He noted that it took around 3 years for the economy to recover from both the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the Great Recession of 2008, so recovering from COVID might take longer.

“I think should be 5 years to recover from COVID.”

“We’re seeing some better conditions in 2024, but it won’t still be the same as 2018 and 2019,” he said.

Bill Barnett of hospitality think-tank C9 Hotelworks, however, said the government needs to be more active in luring tourists from other markets into the Philippines.

“Everybody in Asia has one question: Where are the Chinese?” he said. “The problem in terms of everybody asking for China is…China's slowdown started before the pandemic,” he noted.

Barnett said the Philippines should promote itself as a tourist destination for “snowbirds” — tourists who leave northern cold climates in the winter to stay at warmer locations.

“We see the Department of Tourism looking at promoting diving but not promoting other markets, which is saying—so I think in some ways the Philippines is such an undervalued tourism destination,” he said.

Beyond tourism promotions, however, Barnett said the government must offer visa-free travel to more nations, and work to increase more flights to the Philippines.

“It starts with visa-free travel. You see Vietnam, you see Thailand, you see other countries, they make it visa-free for Chinese to travel, they make it easier for Eastern Europeans to travel, to make it easier for Indians to travel.”

“It starts with negotiating bilateral agreements with other countries. It starts at a political level,” he said.

“You have to negotiate air rights in terms of landing rights between other airlines to allow to free up space at the airports,” he said.

“Until tourism becomes important to the government it's going to be very hard to change policies quickly in terms of these things,” he added.

He also encouraged hotels to focus on their niche and work closely with their communities so they have something new to offer their guests.

“You have to be brave, you have to say you want to do something different,” he said. “I think we need the bigger hotels, you have to segment you have to create events, you have to work together with your communities, and find things that attract people to come,” he explained.

Tan’s Tytans Properties and Development Inc. owns the Tambuli Seaside Resort and Spa in Mactan. The firm tapped Barnett’s C9 Hotelworks as its consultant as it seeks to develop its property to build the largest Pullam property in the Philippines.