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Visa policies, incidents deter Chinese tourists
Manila Bulletin
|October 27, 2025
The Philippines is experiencing a continued decline in Chinese visitors, with visa restrictions and recent high-profile incidents cited as key factors by think tank Oxford Economics.
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“In the Philippines, visa policy is likely the culprit,” said Adam Ahmad Samdin, economist at Oxford Economics, in a report on Friday, Oct. 24.
The Philippines, India, Taiwan, and Thailand were considered by Oxford Economics as having the poorest-performing tourism sectors in Asia-Pacific, with arrivals still below pre-pandemic levels due to “the continued absence of Chinese tourists.”
Oxford Economics data showed that the share of Chinese visitors to the Philippines fell below 10 percent of total in 2024 and 2025, down from 20 percent in 2019.
The think tank highlighted that the suspension of electronic visas for Chinese nationals-set to end in November-has partly contributed to the slowdown.
This story is from the October 27, 2025 edition of Manila Bulletin.
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