THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is working with other government agencies to ease entry for tourist source markets, particularly India and China.
Tourism secretary Christina Frasco, at a high-level convergence meeting on Friday, March 24, discussed with the heads of the Bureau of Immigration, and departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Information and Communications Technology the need for “visa reforms” to address tourism bottlenecks.
Citing China and India’s potential to bring in more travelers, she said government agencies must explore the provision of electronic visa (eVisa) to their nationals.
Based on DOT data, at least 58 percent of the total Indian visitors were repeat travelers, hence the necessity to exert effort to sustain and increase their entry.
India, the DOT noted, has risen from being an opportunity market for the Philippines to an important market source, ranking eighth among top foreign visitors in 2022 with 51,542.
“We are the only country that presently does not provide the convenient electronic visa for Indian nationals. This is a huge market that the Philippines has yet to explore,” Frasco said.
Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran agreed that this is a “very opportune” time for Manila to ease visa processes as Indian travelers visiting Southeast Asia “could potentially be looking at a new destination.”
China, meanwhile, remains a coveted market for the Philippines, which recorded more than 1.7 million Chinese visitors prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Citing reports from airlines, Frasco said Philippine consular posts in China have issued advisories “limiting the acceptance of visa applications per day from only around 60 to 100.”
This is compared to the average of 508 to as high as 2,704 Philippine visas issued per day in China prior to the pandemic.
“Of our low target of half a million Chinese coming into the Philippines, we would need to issue 1,704 visas per day. If we are to target the medium scenario of a million Chinese into the country then we would need to issue 3,409 visas per day,” Frasco said.
“If we are to target two million Chinese coming to the Philippines and which is the desired target of the Department of Tourism, then we would need to issue 6,818 visas per day for a total of 1.8 million visas in a year, which is not too far off from the 1.5 million issued in 2019,” she added.
The DOT stressed that China’s sizable population translates to massive opportunity for the Philippines.
The agencies, for their part, vowed to look into the matter and expressed their support for the proposed reforms on the country’s special markets, citing, at the same time, the need to “balance legal requirements,” in accordance with the law.
“The DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) will definitely put it as one of our priorities to support the Department of Tourism and the Department of Foreign Affairs,” DICT secretary Ivan John Uy said.
DFA assistant secretary Henry Bensurto Jr. said they would study the recommendation and come out with an immediate feedback. (PNA)/PN
