PRESS RELEASE

Philippine Ambassador lauds Chinese charter flight

(Beijing, 1 February 2005) Philippine Ambassador to China Willy C. Gaa congratulated today the China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) for organizing the first ever charter flight of Chinese tourists from Beijing to Manila.

The flight, which will carry some 170 passengers, will depart Beijing for Manila on 10 February.

In his remarks at a press conference organized by the Embassy’s Tourism Attaché and CYTS, Ambassador Gaa welcomed the move and expressed hope for more similar flights in the future.

He noted that the flight, which is timed for the celebration of the Chinese new year, is “an auspicious way to start an auspicious year for Philippines-China relations." The two countries will mark the 30^th anniversary of diplomatic relations on 9 June.

The Ambassador said that attracting more tourists from China is a priority of the Philippine Government. He recalled that barely a year ago, the Embassy and the Philippine Department of Tourism organized a gathering of Philippine and Chinese travel service officials and journalists to exchange ideas on how to attract Chinese tourists to the Philippines.

He lauded the many achievements since then, which include the opening of the Office of the Philippine Tourism Attaché in Beijing in July, launching of flights--both regular and chartered--from southern China to the Philippines, easing of tourist visa requirements and fees, and the increase of attractive tour packages for Chinese travelers.

He said that such measures have resulted in an increase of Chinese tourists to the Philippines by 30 per cent in the first three quarters of 2004.

At the press conference, Philippine Tourism Attaché Jazmin Esguerra also gave a brief presentation of the Philippines' plans for attracting more Chinese tourists. These include strengthening working relations with individual tour operators like CYTS, joint marketing activities to promote more package tours, and closer ties with the media.

CYTS is one of China’s three top travel agencies. Chinese passengers taking the 10 February flight will first go to Manila and then take a domestic flight to Boracay to enjoy the latter’s warm beaches. They will fly back to Beijing on 14 February.

Noting the warm reception to the first flight, CYTS Outbound Division General Manager Sun Chang Wei informed Ambassador Gaa that a second charter flight may take place in May, in time for China’s Labor Day holidays.

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