PHILIPPINE TOURISM EYES INDIA NATIONALS TO BOOST TOURISM

The Philippines is refocusing its tourism efforts in attracting more travelers from India, Europe and the sought-after luxury Middle East market as the Department of Tourism (DOT) is eager to implement a tourism deal with India.
This is to attract more travelers as the country compensates with the low Chinese tourist arrivals last year. Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco admitted that the small Chinese arrivals last year “devastated” tourism targets as only a little over 300,000 arrived — way beyond its two million target for the year.
And it is pushing to ease visa policies for Indian nationals in a bid to get a bigger share of tourists from India, the world’s most populous country that is expected to see a tourism boom in the next few years.

The country’s tourism department is pushing to ease visa policies for Indian nationals, hoping to increase visitor arrivals from India (Photo courtesy of Ferdinandh Cabrera/ AFP)
In 2024, over 5 million Indians traveled to Southeast Asia, but only 79,000 of them visited the Philippines. “Visa liberalization is critical. And so, with the challenges that we are facing pertaining to the Chinese market, we are now looking at India.”
While the number seems meager, it is already a 12.8 percent improvement from the number of Indians who arrived in the Philippines in 2023, she said. “There is still so much room to grow as far as the Philippines is concerned, especially that we are the world’s leading dive destination.”
The country’s inbound visitors in 2024 reached 5.94 million, at least 9.15 percent higher than the 5.45 million foreign visitors recorded in 2023, but below the 7.7 million arrival target for the year.
Frasco attributed the drop in tourist arrivals from China to the suspension of e-visas for Chinese nationals in 2023, a policy set in place after the Department of Justice called for stricter visa regulations to curb the influx of illegal online gaming workers to the Philippines.
The DOT hopes that the Philippines can ease visa restrictions for other nationalities, underscoring that other Southeast Asian countries have already waived visas for nearly all nationalities after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A liberalized visa policy for Indian nationals would greatly help in terms of bringing them in The status of the liberalization of our visas should be compared to our ASEAN neighbors,” Frasco said.
Manila would work to make the Philippines a top destination for Indian tourists according to Frasco, seeing the vast potential of the market, “The Philippine experience is one that harmoniously blends natural beauty with cultural richness, providing Indian tourists with a perfect mix of relaxation, adventure, and discovery.”
“The Philippines offers a diverse array of experiences that cater to the unique preferences of Indian travelers from our world-class and award-winning beaches, our top dive sites, and rich cultural offerings to our renowned wedding destinations such as Cebu,” she added.
Source: Philippine News Agency
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