There is no stopping the Chinese, at least when it comes to tourism arrivals as it went up one notch displacing the Japanese in third place as shown in the recent statistics released by the Department of Tourism for the month of January 2016.

DOT statistics showed perennial front-runner Korea with 147,165 (27.14%) tourists, U.S.A. with 84,506 (15.58%), China with 48,708 (8.98%), and Japan 41,691 (7.69%). Australia is at fifth, generating 25,274 or 4.56%.

The other countries making up the top ten markets are: Canada (21,108), Taiwan (15,523), U.K. (15.072), Singapore (13,404), and Malaysia (11,068).

Total tourism receipts for the month were PhP21.94 billion with Korea (6.21B), U.S.A.(4.26B), and Japan (1.64B) as the top three spenders but on per capita spending , it was Canada, Germany, and the U.S.A. who spent most.

Observers maintain that the total numbers of Chinese visiting the Philippines is miniscule compared to the other countries in the region. The world shares 1-billion Chinese travelers and getting just a single-digit percentage of that market makes for a healthier tourism revenue for any destination.