CLARK, Pampanga – An influx of Chinese tourists is expected in June this year as South East Asian International (SEAIR) will mount 12 international and domestic flights from mainland China to and from the Clark International Airport (CRK), a top official of Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) said.
The SEAIR flights using two aircraft which interchange nightly will include the daily CRK-Beijing and CRK-Koror routes with guided tours to choice destinations in the Metro Clark Area and nearby cities.
Koror is the most prominent among many islands comprising the main commercial center of the Republic of Palau.
“This is a huge development for Clark airport as SEAIR’s passengers are mainly Chinese businessmen and their families who wish to visit the country,” CIAC president and CEO Alexander Cauguiran said.
Cauguiran said the airport’s management team and SEAIR International executives, led by the airline’s chief executive officer Benjamin Solis and its director for operations Ernesto Pabalan, will also conduct a dialogue with tourism stakeholders in Angeles City and nearby cities in Pampanga to align with the airline’s operational plans which include guided tours in its flight schedules.
The twice-a-week scheduled flights to and from Clark include Kunming (Yunnan province), Nanning (Guangxi region) and Changsha (Hunan province), three routes which will also fly directly to Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
The other twice-a-week flights are Clark to Ningbo and Wenzhou (Zhejiang province), Wuhan (Hubei province), and Hefei (Anhui province), routes that are expected to double the number of Chinese tourist arrivals in the country.
“Opportunities abound with the influx of Chinese tourists (who are) expected to visit in the coming months. This will definitely boost Clark airport operations and will hugely benefit the local hotel industry and the business communities in Central Luzon, especially in Pampanga and Zambales,” Cauguiran said.
The entry of SEAIR International at Clark airport comes in the heels of the airline’s partnership with China International Travel Services, the biggest government-owned tour services operator in China.
The preferred destinations of Chinese tourists are the beaches and diving locations, family recreation spots, souvenir shops, restaurants, other tourist sites, and first-class hotels especially inside the Clark Freeport Zone, Cauguirn said.
“Our Chinese guests’ keen interest in visiting choice destinations in the Philippines is a reassurance of our two countries’ long time friendship, as consistently being fostered by President Rodrigo Duterte,” Cauguiran said.
The CIAC chief likewise assured foreign and local tourists flying via Clark airport of CRK’s reliable security, services , and facilities.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) counts China as the third largest market of Philippine tourism.
Some 630,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines from January to November 2016 but with warmer ties with Beijing, the DOT expects this number of arrivals to double by the end of 2017./(PNA) MDDR