Thursday, January 23, 2025 The Department of Tourism (DOT) announced on Wednesday its plans to relax visa requirements for Indian travelers as part of its strategy to attract more tourists from India, the world’s most populous nation, which is anticipated to experience a significant tourism surge in the coming years. Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, speaking at a news forum, highlighted that while over 5 million Indian tourists explored Southeast Asia in 2024, only 79,000 chose the Philippines as their destination. Despite this modest figure, Frasco noted a 12.
8% increase compared to Indian arrivals in 2023, signaling a positive trend for the country’s efforts to tap into this growing market. In the previous year, Thailand hosted approximately 2 million visitors from India, ranking them just behind travelers from China and Malaysia. In 2024, Vietnam welcomed around 501,000 Indian travelers, according to statistics from Vietnam’s National Authority of Tourism.
The Philippines’ renewed efforts to draw more visitors from India, the world’s most populous nation, come on the heels of a disappointing performance in 2024, with only 5.64 million international arrivals. This figure fell significantly short of the country’s target of 7.
7 million overseas tourists. Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco attributed part of the decline, particularly in arrivals from China, to the suspension of e-visa services for Chinese nationals in 2023. This measure was implemented following.
