Passport issue wounds tourism in Philippines   

菲律宾去年吸引中国游客不足预定目标一半

菲律宾旅游部长雷蒙•吉梅内斯日前向媒体透露，去年来菲旅游的中国游客人数估计不到20万，远低于菲旅游部原先设定的吸引45万名中国游客的目标。

Manila (CNS) –Less than 200,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines last year, far fewer than the target of 450,000 set by the Philippine Department of Tourism, the country's tourism minister Ramon Jimenez has said.

The decline was caused mostly by the Philippine government's refusal to stamp visas in Chinese passports bearing a controversial map of the South China Sea, according to a local TV station.

In 2011, China was the country's fourth largest source of tourists, accounting for 6.2 percent of its foreign visitors.

To solve the passport issue, our tourism department is coordinating with the foreign affairs department to lure more Chinese visitors, said Jimenez.