Philippines eyes visa-free entry for Chinese to resort hub of Clark, other holiday hotspots: tourism secretary

The Philippines aims to expand visa-free entry for Chinese-mainland passport holders to the resort hub of Clark, in central Luzon, along with the tourism hotspots of Bohol and Palawan, as well as for Caticlan, the gateway to the holiday island of Boracay. So said Dita Angara-Mathay, Secretary of the Department of Tourism, in Tuesday comments reported by local media. Her comments came as her department also announced the Philippines had recorded 4.11 million foreign arrivals from January to August, up 3.7 percent year-on-year. Among the Philippines’ top 10 source markets for foreign visitors in the first eight months of 2026, China and India posted the highest year-on-year growth in overall arrivals, at nearly 69.2 percent and 32.2 percent respectively, showed the data. “If you look at the statistics, Chinese arrivals [are] on the rebound, because of that visa free incentive,” Ms Angara-Mathay said as quoted by the Manila Standard. “We’re working on the visa arrangement with China to cover not only Cebu and Manila” for visa-free entry, “but other areas,” the tourism secretary was cited as saying on the sidelines of an event on Tuesday. She added: “If we’re going to get all the other agencies to sign up on this, then we can expect a lot more chartered flights from China and a lot more arrivals.” Once the proposal gets approval, Ms Angara-Mathay said, the arrangement’s coverage will include Bohol, Palawan, Clark and Caticlan. The economic benefit of the proposal was supported by “hard data”, the secretary added. Clark is served by Clark International Airport (pictured), a major air hub in the centre of the country’s main island, Luzon. Clark is already also a hub for tourism resorts, including some with casino facilities. Philippine News Agency noted in its Tuesday report of the secretary’s comments that Chinese nationals can already enjoy a 14-day visa-free entry to the Philippines through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila and via the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu. In the January to August period, the Philippines as a whole saw the United States contribute the greatest share of foreign arrivals, at 818,318, followed by South Korea with 727,379, Japan at 350,191, China with 310,088, and Australia at 234,156.