Now, Philippines Becomes Visa-Free for Indian Tourists

The impact of visa waivers on Indian travelers' destination preference is well documented. As the Philippines struggles with the loss of Chinese tourists, it seems to be taking a page from Thailand's notebook to attract outbound surge from India.

The Philippines has introduced visa-free entry for Indian tourists. The archipelago is offering two different types of visa waivers to Indians.

Indian passport holders can enter the Philippines without a visa for a period of 14 days for tourism only. Tourists entering the Southeast Asian country through this program can neither extend their stay beyond the 14 days nor convert it into any other type of visa.

Apart from this, Indian nationals can also get a 30-day non-extendable visa-free entry for tourism purposes if they hold valid visas or residency permits for Australia, Japan, America, Canada, Schengen nations, Singapore, or the United Kingdom. The country’s e-visa facility will also be available.

The policy came into effect this month itself.

India’s Importance for Philippines: Last year, while the Philippines recorded its highest-ever tourism receipts at about $13 billion, it also lost out significantly on tourists from China: Only 300,000 Chinese tourists visited as against the target of 2 million.

At the Skift Asia Forum earlier this month, Christina Garcia Frasco, tourism secretary of the Republic of the Philippines said, “The lesson that we learned from that is to really diversify o