Chinese scrap Philippine trips after hijacking: report

[Jantehshiznit]

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BEIJING - Travellers from Hong Kong and mainland China have cancelled more than 1,000 Philippine package tours after eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a bus hijacking in Manila, state media said Monday.

The Philippine tourism industry could suffer resulting losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next three months, the China Daily reported, citing Philippine Department of Tourism Under-Secretary Simeon P. Marfori.

It said Marfori was speaking at an international travel forum in southern China.

Hong Kong tourists accounted for one in ten of all inbound tourists to the Philippines while Chinese tourists represented the highest growth market of visitors to the country, Marfori said. The report provided no other figures.

On August 23, a disgruntled former policeman commandeered a bus carrying 25 Hong Kong tourists in a bid to win his job back.

Eight of the tourists died during a botched police rescue bid that also left the hostage-taker dead.

On the following day, China's National Tourism Administration urged its citizens travelling to the Philippines to exercise caution.

The administration did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on Monday.

A Shanghai-based customer service representative at China International Travel Service (CITS), who declined to be named, said the travel agency stopped offering group tours to the Philippines after the hijacking.

"People were scared. No one wants to go there. Service will resume only after the impact of the hostage incident subsides," she told AFP.

She added CITS would offer no package tours to the southeast Asian country during the National Day holiday in October, a peak season for Chinese tourism.


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what can you say?

i call it BULLY. i can understand their concerns, sentiments but i can really say its BULLY, im sure they cant do this in other better countries.

a good picture or example that i have in mind why i can call it Bullying.

so many times Americans and other Nationalities kidnapped in Mindanao, others killed and rescued but there were no Travel Ban or Avoid All Travel to Phils. raised by these countries. (as far as i know, there are only warnings raised not to visit on these places or to avoid these areas but not a total travel ban to the Phils.)

its a mix emotions on either hating Philippines or Hating Chinese. its kinda both,

i hate Phil Govt for slacking, Chinese for being so abusive. they just abuse of what they have, cause they are superior and were kinda like Inferior.

this is an isolated case, and this incident can also happen in their place or any part of the world but for sure they will do better. but i just felt this is too much.

i just felt they just wanna bully us, for how better they are than us, theres a lot of cases to state, like Spratlys islands. those things are just an example of how abusive China is.

thats why i dont like them as a Country or even more as a race.

[ritsche villadolid]

amoa mayor toa sa china karon

[geetarista]

i feel the same...

[lestat1116]

makig deal ni ang china sa philippines with spratly islands.

[Sandamukal]

Masyadong ma-drama ang mga Chinese. Namatayan lang sila ng 8 tao. Mahigit 1 billion ang pupulasyon ng mga iyan.

Hindi ba nila alam na Chinese ang nag-dadala ng DROGA sa Pilipinas na sumisira ng buhay ng mas marami?

F**k Chinese Drug-lords.

[c_cebrecus]

emo sad ning mga insik da

[wikki]

hilom nalang ta, kay in the end kita may kawaX2 kung ma ban ta sa travel destination nila. kita may nanginahanglang og kwarta dli man sila. unya nata mang hambog kung naa nay ika hambog, di man gani ta ka tarong sa problema na corruption mga ngita na noon ta og lain na away.

[ferdM16]

Paita gyud sa pinoy, way mahems...

[KASAAC]

murag ovah nasad sila i understand the feeling but this is too much...

[cebulifer]

awww.... koreans are still coming pa naman. so it evens out.