Asia-Pacific
Bus hijacking alerts Chinese tourists
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-17 08:12
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Emotional impact
Tour operators were shocked at how quickly the situation got out of control after a disgruntled Manila policeman seized a bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists in a bid to get his old job back.
"In my 20 years in the business I had never heard of something like this. We've had hostage situations, but they were always resolved peacefully," said Bing Lim, a Manila travel agent with El Sol Tours, who specializes in receiving Chinese clients.
Most Chinese, in other words, got the impression that the Philippines are unsafe not because of the actual hijacking itself - but because of the failed rescue.
A similar chain of events unfolded in nearby Thailand earlier this year when, after men in Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts fought it out with police in Bangkok, many tourists avoided the Southeast Asian tourist hub like the plague.
This not only affected the tourism business in Thailand, but neighboring countries as well, not least because Thailand also functions as a jumping-off point for tourists who want to explore the region.
Such decisions are more psychological than logical, according to many tour operators. Even at the height of its crisis, Thailand remained relatively safe for the tourist who eschewed crowds and public gatherings.
In addition, the riots took place only in Bangkok, while most heavily visited tourist destinations are Phuket and other islands.
The bus hijacking in Manila does not reflect overall security in the whole of the Philippines, either, said many tour operators. Nonetheless, the travel agents said they understood the anxieties people have at this time.
Some, for instance, have rescheduled tour itineraries to bypass Manila altogether, instead coordinating flights directly to islands such as Cebu, Boracay or Palawan. Not surprisingly, even those who travel to Manila are not taken to the Quirino Grandstand, the site of the shootout, unless they request it. It has become, for many Chinese, a spot of "heartbreak".
But "while it was horrifying it was an isolated case," noted Ambassador Benedicto.
Bing Lim, the Manila travel agent, echoed this sentiment. "I want people in China to know that the Philippines is overall very safe."
The problem for travel agents in China, and people in the Philippines who depend on tourism there, remains how much time it will be before Chinese realize this is the case.
Many industry insiders predict it will be three months before conditions improve.
The Thai market, for instance, rebounded pretty quickly after the riots subsided, said Zhu Lili, the Beijing travel agent, but the Manila incident will leave a longer, bitterer aftertaste, given the fatalities.
"Lowering prices will not help," she said. "For one thing, a package tour to the Philippines is already quite low, around 4,000 yuan ($595). What deters people is the emotional factor, the perception, which will change only gradually."
In that sense, Cebu Pacific Air could not have chosen a worse time to launch its Beijing-Manila-Beijing route.
Joe Kwok was shaking his head with resignation on Aug 30 before he made the announcement at the Philippine Tourism Recognition Awards Night in Beijing.
The general manager of Cebu Pacific Greater China is a Hong Kong native and understood the sentiments in the SAR. The maiden flight from Beijing in the wee hours of Sept 6 was barely half full, and one week later, it was mostly full - though Filipinos well outnumbered Chinese passengers.