PAL: Booking cancellations from HK, China increasing
Hotels, tour agencies experience cancellations too
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) - Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said Thursday that the number of booking cancellations from Hong Kong and China has started to balloon after the bloody hostage drama in Manila, where 8 Hong Kong tourists were killed.
The PAL said that as of Wednesday, a total of 558 Manila-bound bookings from Hong Kong and mainland China have been cancelled.
"PAL is beginning to feel the initial impact of a Hong Kong government advisory warning its residents to refrain from all travel to the Philippines," PAL president Jaime Baustista said in a statement.
Bautista said the bookings were made by tourists from Hong Kong, Beijing, Xiamen and other points in China.
The PAL president added that two Hong Kong- and Macau-bound Filipino tourists have also changed their destination.
Despite the increasing number of cancellations, PAL said that it continues to dispatch 5 daily flights to and from Hong Kong.
Bautista said that the airline may decide to reduce the flights if booking cancellations continue.
But he noted the airline is hoping that "fears of travelling to the Philippines will be temporary."
A day after the bloody hostage drama, the Hong Kong government issued a "black" travel alert for the Philippines. It advised all its citizens to refrain from visiting the Philippines because of the incident.
PAL said it has yet to determine the financial impact of the booking cancellations.
The airline is currently engaged in a dispute with its employees. It was forced to reduce flights because of the recent mass resignation of its pilots.
Baustista said they are hoping that the government's effort to appease the Hong Kong government will "soon lead to the lifting of the travel restrictions."
Governments of neighboring Asian countries have also reportedly issued warnings against travel to the Philippines because of the bloody hostage drama.
Hotel cancellations
Meanwhile, hotels and travel agencies have also reported cancellations, and they fear that more tourists from mainland China, and even Taiwan, may also cancel their bookings.
For one, the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel said it has lost bookings from groups of Chinese nationals.
Earlier, the Department of Tourism admitted that Monday's hostage drama may affect tourist arrivals in the Philippines, and could undermine government targets.
Data from the DoT website showed that from January to May this year, a total of 33,395 tourists from Hong Kong visited the Philippines, 14.43% higher than the 29,185 reported in the same period in 2009.
Of the number, about half or 13,775 went to the Philippine capital, Manila.
The DoT said that East Asia -- composed of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan -- is Manila's major source of foreign visitors.
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
Share your views
none
none
We should cancel our trips too!
We should do the same! We were planning to visit Hongkong in December for a week, before heading to the Philippines but we canceled our plans. We will go straight to the Philippines instead. We normally take Cathay Pacific, but this time we will take Philippine Airlines.
We will spend our hardearned money instead to the Philippines to help in the economy of our country.
Go and cancel! we dont care!
Go and cancel! we dont care! madami ng intsik dito sa pilipinas, mas ginusto pa nila tumira dito kesa sa China,
Ang immediate reaction nyo we
Ang immediate reaction nyo we don't care. Napaka out of touch kayo talaga sa international news and events. Hindi nyo ba alam na hindi lang ngayon ang mga Chinese ang takot pumunta sa Pilipinas e pero maraming tao narin kahit saan lugar takot na ngayon bisitahin ang Pilipinas? How can a visitor feel safe in the Philippines if its own police force are completely inept? It's not a matter of x number of Chinese live in the Philippines so "we don't need anymore of them," but the fact is that the country's image is now tainted worldwide. Hindi nyo ba alam na ang tourism ay malaking economic boon sa Pilipinas? Tapos kinukumpara nyo pa na mas madaming Pilipino nagpupunta sa HK kesa sa mga inchik nagpupunta sa Pilipinas, eh bakit kaya? Siempre, nandoon ang trabaho at tourist sites. makasilita kayo parang napaka laki ang ino-offer ng Pilipinas sa Southeast Asia at ang buong mundo, eh puro pagbukas mo nang balita from around the world kung ano anong kabobohan ang nadidinig mo galing sa Pilipinas.
FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS FROM HONGKONG AND CHINA
MI AMIGOS...SO WHAT IF THEY CANCELLED FLIGHTS FROM HONGKONG AND CHINA...I DONT CARE..WE HAVE LOTS OF CHINESE HERE IN MANILA (LAUGHING)...THEY CAN STAY IN THEIR COUNTRIES..WE DONT NEED THEM HERE...WE FILIPINOS WILL NEVER BE INTIMIDATD NY THEM..SUNTUKUN NA LANG..
FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS HONGKONG AND CHINA
MI AMIGOS...SO WHAT IF BOTH HONGKONG AND CHINA CANCELLED THEIR FLIGHTS..WE DONT NEED THEM HERE...WE HAVE LOTS OF CHINESE HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES...LET THEM STAY IN THERE COUNTRY...WE AS FILIPINOS WILL NEVER BE INTIMIDATED BY WHAT THEY ARE DOING...
wala tayong magagawa kung anu
wala tayong magagawa kung anu pa mang hakbang ang gawin ng mga taga-hongkong dahil sa kanilang sama ng loob sa atin...ang mahalaga, on behalf of all the filipino people ay humingi na ng tawad ang ating pangulo sa kanila.
Reciprocate lang
Maraming mali sa nangyari dito admittedly. But the HK Chinese are overreacting. Marami rin ang mga Pinoy na pumupunta sa HK para mamasyal, baka nga out of proportion pa sa mga nationals nila na pumupunta dito (since the Phils may have lost its appeal na, unfortunately). Sana ma-dry up din yung mga Pinoy tourists outbound for HK, ganyan attitude nila towards us tapos makikinabang pa sila (kahit unti) sa mga Pinoy tourists dun? I hope their airlines that poach on Filipino travelers (outbound for HK or passing through HK for connecting flights) feel the effects as well.
Stop buying pirated merchandise and drugs na rin..Galing ata HK yan.
At Bakit mo nasabi kasalanan ng Pangulo???!!
To malayko
Bakit mo nasabi kasalanan ng pangulo? at least sya may ginagawa sa mga problema natin sa bansa di tulad mo na sigurado puro ka dakdak at wala naman ginagawa o magagawang mabuti para sa ating bansa. Yang mga tulad mo ang mga tipikal na makasariling tao at para sa iyo at tulad mo lahat ng tao ay walang magagawang mabuti. IKAW ANG TANGA!!!
Well di natin masisi ang International community kung mag palabas sila ng travel ban papunta sa Pinas it is understandable just what we do for Iraq nung magka gyera. They only protect their people just like our government do. Evently magsasubside din lahat yan because everybody will agree that these is just an isolated case. Unfortunately, mga tourist pa ang natyempuhan.
To the people of Hongkong specially the families of the victims, from the bottom of our Filipino hearts we are deeply sorry for the incident. We do condemn what happen and it is something that must be dealt upon accordingly.
Unfriendly Act
The black alert issued by HK government is an unfriendly act. HK should know it better. The economy of HK relies heavily on tourism. Remember SARS? Remember the acid man who throws plastic bags containing acid at faces of tourists? Some of the victims were Filipino tourists. There was no advisory from our DFA at that time. I urge all Filipinos to cancel non-essential travel to HK. After all, the Philippines is one of the top tourist markets of HK.