The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) is urging the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to expedite the implementation of an e-Visa system to meet its goal of attracting 7.7 million tourists by the end of 2024.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco stressed that the ease of entry through e-Visas is crucial for boosting tourist arrivals, especially from major markets like India, which is seeing increasing outbound travel. The DOT aims to leverage this demand to counterbalance the slow recovery of Chinese tourists.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has prioritized the digital transformation of the visa system, emphasizing its importance in his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA). He has directed the DFA to streamline the e-Visa process for nationals from China, India, South Korea, and Japan.
The Tourism Secretary noted that although the e-Visa system for Indian nationals is currently in beta testing, it needs to be fully implemented promptly to capitalize on the high demand from Indian tourists.
In 2019, before the pandemic, China was the Philippines’ second-largest source of tourists, with 1.7 million visitors. However, in 2023, Chinese arrivals plummeted to 263,834, while South Korean tourists remained strong at 1.4 million. This decline underscores the necessity of targeting other burgeoning markets like India to achieve the DOT’s ambitious visitor goals.
To this end, the DOT is also engaged in talks to establish direct flights between the Philippines and India. Tourism Secretary Frasco revealed that discussions with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and Indian counterparts have been positive. The DOT is proposing initial charter flights to test the market, with the potential for regular flights in the near future. These efforts, in collaboration with the Department of Transportation, aim to facilitate group travel from India and demonstrate the growing demand for Philippine tourism.
Frasco highlighted that, despite the challenges, the Philippines has shown remarkable recovery in tourism revenues, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, international tourism receipts reached over PHP480 billion ($8.2 billion), a significant increase from PHP214.5 billion ($3.66 billion) in the previous year.
