Philippine tourism secretary Christina Frasco called upon the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs to fast-track the full implementation of the new e-Visa system.

This is in line with the Department of Tourism’s (DOT)target of welcoming 7.7 million tourist arrivals by the end of this year.

At discussions held after President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s recent State of the Nation Address, Frasco declared: “As far as arrivals are concerned, unless and until we are able to fully ease the convenience of coming into the Philippines [where visas are concerned, meeting the target remains] a challenge,” 

Frasco opines that the directive would bring in more inbound tourists and make the Philippines at par with neighbouring states already implementing such systems.

The target market for the e-Visa is India, which has become one of the biggest outbound travel markets in the world.

Frasco said: “Other countries have seen this potential and have already eased their visa policies precisely for this reason. It is high time that the Philippines eases its visa policies, especially towards the Indian market.”