Philippines Casinos Target Chinese Players With 14-Day Visa-Free Program
Posted on: January 16, 2026, 01:22h.
Last updated on: January 16, 2026, 01:37h.
- The Philippines has opened its visa-free program to China
- The initiative allows Chinese people to visit the Philippines for 14 days without a visa
The Philippine government is authorizing a 14-day entry program for travelers from China, effective immediately.
On Friday, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced the initiation of a two-week, visa-free entry scheme with the People’s Republic to facilitate trade and investments, as well as tourism. China’s inclusion brings the Philippines’ two-week visa program to include 12 countries.
Chinese nationals traveling to the Philippines strictly for tourism or business purposes may avail of the new visa-free entry privilege. The said privilege allows for a non-extendable 14-day stay, which is non-convertible to any other type of Philippine visa category,” the DFA said in a release.
Chinese nationals arriving in the Philippines via the visa-free initiative must enter at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila or the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu. Upon arrival, Chinese nationals must present a valid passport with an expiration date at least six months beyond the end of their scheduled stay in the Philippines.
Chinese people must also prove a hotel booking or place of accommodation, along with a confirmed return ticket out of the Philippines.
Casino Access
The Philippines’ visa-free tourism program for China will run through at least January 2027. The initiative makes it much easier for mainlanders to travel to the Philippines and stay at the country’s large-scale casino resorts in Manila.
The capital region is home to so-called Entertainment City, where Melco Resorts’ City of Dreams, Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire, Universal Entertainment’s Okada, and Alliance Global’s Newport World Resorts operate.
The Philippines’ economy slowed in 2025, with challenges from global headwinds blamed. While domestic demand remained strong, global analysts say the Philippines must foster investment and government reforms to spur the economy in 2026.
In the third quarter of 2025, the most recently reported filing from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the four Entertainment City casinos generated gross gaming revenue of PHP37.43 billion (US$630.1 million). That was down almost 11% from the same quarter in 2024.
Investment bank Maybank thinks adding China to the visa-free initiative is a winning strategy for the Philippines and the four Manila casinos.
“The rollout should enable incremental route and frequency additions, while longer inter-island stays support yield-led 2026 growth,” the bank wrote.
Tourism Dips
For a second consecutive year, tourism was down in the Philippines in terms of the total number of visitor arrivals.
The Philippines Department of Tourism reports that total visitor numbers dropped from six million in 2024 to 5.9 million last year. South Korea remained the Philippines’ largest source market, with Koreans accounting for more than 1.4 million visitors.
The Philippine government has set aside $21.9 million to market and promote the country in key foreign markets this year.
A key event this year in the Philippines is its hosting of the ASEAN Tourism Forum, which is scheduled for January 28-30 at Mactan, Cebu. The theme of this year’s gathering is “Navigating Our Tourism Future, Together.
ASEAN members include Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
No comments yet