The Philippines is in danger of being left behind in the rush to attract the world’s biggest potential tourist market, namely China. Rene Reyes, tourism officer at Manila’s office in Shanghai, says that the in-advance visa rules are restricting Chinese arrivals who prefer the visa-free or visa-on-arrival policies of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

In 2019 the Philippines receive 1.7 million Chinese tourists, but only 267,000 in 2023, way behind the vacation entrants from South Korea, the lead country. There is now a common assumption throughout the south east Asia region that abolishing pre-entry approval policies is the best way to ensure tourist growth in a competitive environment.
Thailand has led the way with a permanent agreement which allows the Chinese to enter Thailand visa-exempt for 30 days with the option to extend for a further month at local immigration. In return, Thais do not any longer require visas to enter China as shortstay visitors. However, Chinese tourists to Thailand are restricted to a 90 days maximum stay in any 180 days period unless they are business people, students or have families resident here with purpose visas in their passports

Two other hold-out countries in the region are Indonesia, which is still considering extending visa free travel to more countries, and also Cambodia which charges most foreign tourists (including Chinese) US$30 for a month’s stay on an e-visa or visa on arrival basis. Meanwhile, Srettha Thavisin, the Thai premier, is actively campaigning for Asean nations to adopt common tourist immigration policies and “seamless travel” opportunities throughout the region.