The Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines recently launched the taxi transit advertising of Philippines tourist destinations at the Philippines embassy grounds in New Delhi. The objective was to further strengthen the brand positioning of the destination among Indian travellers. “In 2015, we welcomed 75,000 Indian visitors, reflecting a growth of over 22 per cent over 2014. This year from January – July 2016, 53,498 Indians visited the Philippines, an increase of over 25 per cent, making India the 12th international source market destination,” Ma. Teresita C. Daza, Ambassador, Republic of Philippines to India, said.
Speaking more on Indian arrivals, she informed that the government has set a target of 100,000 Indian visitors in 2017. “Our India office is working hard to achieve this target this year only. The increase in arrival numbers in last two to three years is a quite positive sign,” she added.
Philippines targets 12 million foreign tourists by 2022. “India is currently at 12th rank as a source market. We hope that India improves its rank further. Our Department of Tourism understands that India is an important market. They are actually pushing for group visa on arrival,” she added.
The Ambassador also informed that the new government is quite aggressive in promoting Philippines as a tourism destination. “The new government is looking to decentralise the power by giving more autonomy to local governments. The new government also encourages the local government to play and proactive role in tourism development. Many of them are becoming aggressive for tourism cause,” she informed. The Department is also promoting other destinations of the country beyond Manila and now many Indian visitors travel to newer destinations.
Talking about the air connectivity, she desired to have a direct connectivity. “There has been ongoing discussion between two countries when it comes to air links. We are hoping a positive outcome of the discussion between two countries and Philippines Airlines and Cebu Pacific could start their services in 2017,” the Ambassador said. There was direct air connectivity between two countries in 2012, however, it was discontinued later. She opined that direct connectivity will further push the numbers as wedding and group travel increases with direct air connectivity.