People visit the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach in Manila, the Philippines, Oct. 21, 2021.(File photo: Xinhua)

Recently, a viral social media post lamenting the Philippines' seventh-place ranking in tourist arrivals among Southeast Asian nations has sparked introspection among Filipinos. Some analysts argue that the decline in tourism is closely linked to the ongoing tensions between the Philippines and China.
 
In 2019 the Philippines attracted 1.74 million Chinese tourists to enjoy its scores of warm, beautiful beaches and unique natural sights like the Chocolate Hills of Bohol and Banaue Rice Terraces in cool, up mountain Baguio, spending $1,000 to $1,200 each totaling up to $2 billion. In 2024 Chinese tourist arrivals to the country plunged to a little over 300,000, a precipitous 80 percent drop despite post-Covid tourism recovery in other ASEAN countries.

Chinese tourism to the Philippines has been on a roller coaster the past decade and a half, experiencing ups and downs following the trends of geopolitical and diplomatic directions of the Philippine government. 

The real boom in Chinese tourist arrivals to the Philippines came after the China-friendly government of president Rodrigo R. Duterte assumed office in 2016, The number shot up from 490,000 in 2015 to 675,000 in 2016, and went on the register the boom in 2019 of 1.74 million.
 
In mid-2022 the Philippines transitioned to a new government, expecting continuity in the Duterte legacy of geopolitical neutrality of "friendship to all, enemy to none." However, the Bongbong Marcos Jr. (BBM) government drastically reversed its geopolitical neutrality and totally embraced the US and its hegemonic plans.
 
In February 2023, a "secret deal" between the BBM and the US sprang into operation: constitutionally banned US military bases were expanded, Philippine maritime defense forces instigated frequent provocations with Chinese Coast Guard, a cognitive warfare strategy called "assertive transparency" to "exact a reputational cost on China" was launched, alleging that "China is a bully," and a quiet constriction of Chinese visitors' e-visas was applied by Philippine consular offices.
  
The BBM "pivot to the US" and strategy of tension went into operation, prioritized over the welfare of the Filipino nation, abruptly cutting mutually enriching economic ties with China. The tranquility of ASEAN neutrality disrupted. Constant slander of China and baseless allegation of "Chinese spy networks" commenced, all of which hit the Philippine tourism industry severely hard.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority's April 2024 Labor Force Survey, approximately 16.4 million Filipinos are employed by the tourism industry alone, accounting for over 34 percent of the country's national employment. Metro Manila employs 2.8 million Filipinos in tourism-related jobs. The share of tourism in the Philippine economy remains high, yet there's a clear systematic sabotage of the welcome for the once top source of tourists to the country - China.
 
The anti-China hysteria is such that even a project to have a unified visa system for ASEAN was lambasted but a typical Filipino pro-US and anti-China politician, Congressman Rufus Rodriguez, saying "This will be more dangerous to our national security than our present visa issuance process... [It] will allow Chinese tourists who are actually spies to get ASEAN visas."  
  
The neurotic obsession with the anti-China campaign has left little space for the government to perform its regular function for the welfare of the nation. Just on July 9, six lawmakers from a renowned allied political party of the current Philippine administration filed a congressional resolution seeking to investigate sister city agreements between the Philippines and Chinese local governments saying that "these may primarily benefit China." Many of the sister cityhood agreements go back more than 40 years, like the one between Guangzhou and Manila. 
 
It is abundantly clear that the collapse of Chinese tourist traffic to the Philippines is not a result of Filipino tourism officials' incompetence, they've been appealing to higher authorities for the return of electronic visas for Chinese visitors which was suspended in November 2023. The travel industry saying goes, "Tourism is a powerful tool for peace, dissolving boundaries and fostering global harmony," and this does not jibe with the US-BBM plan to alienate the Filipinos from the millennial friends from China. 

The author is founder of a Manila-based think tank Philippine BRICS Strategic Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn