Destination desolation

Boys hold turtle-shaped pastries for worship in Phuket, Thailand. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Philippines' acting cultural attache in Shanghai, Gerard Panga, explains by e-mail: "We are assessing the situation, with high hopes that everything will normalize at the soonest possible time."

Panga adds a media statement will be released afterward.

Allan Lieberman, who owns the Spider House Resort in the Philippine's Boracay, says he hasn't perceived a decline in Chinese tourists. Instead, he has noticed two new Chinese cruise ships docking on the beach a month.

The Canadian sent his son and daughter to study Chinese in Beijing and aspires to open a Chinese-language school on the island to cater to the throngs who, including the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong, comprise the plurality of visitors, he says.

"I've discussed (the school) with other resort owners, and they see it as a necessity," he says.

Xu points out that while many Chinese are seeking new regions after experiencing their first international excursions in Southeast Asia, many are returning.

"They're revisiting the same Southeast Asian locations," he says.

"Before, it was from a sightseeing perspective. Now, they're on their second visits, going deeper into the cultures."