TOURISM Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina G. Frasco will meet with Indian counterparts to explore ways to increase two-way visitor traffic, according to a Facebook post by the Department of Tourism (DoT).
It said Ms. Frasco will be in President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s entourage during his state visit to India beginning Monday.
“The DoT chief has important meetings lined up… including a meeting with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI),” the DoT said on Monday.
“The meeting will zero in on strategies to boost the number of Indian visitors to the Philippines and explore ways to encourage Filipinos to travel to India, among others,” it added.
She is also set to meet with executives from the aviation industry, including flag carrier Air India and budget airline IndiGo.
Meetings are also scheduled with the Indian hotel, resort, and accommodation industry, as well as travel companies.
“The tourism secretary will also have a meeting with the National Film Development Corp. Ltd. (NFDC), a film producer based in India, for potential areas of collaboration,” the DoT added.
India was the Philippines’ 13th largest source of visitors in the four months to April, accounting for 28,842, or 1.37%, of the total arrivals.
Last year, arrivals from India hit 78,995, up 12.4%.
In his pre-departure message, Mr. Marcos cited “much potential for cooperation with India.”
“We intend to explore these by charting a plan of cooperation across a broad spectrum of shared interests: from defense to trade, investment, health, pharmaceuticals, connectivity, agriculture, tourism, and many other areas,” he said.
“In the lead-up to this visit, we have already announced our grant of visa-free privileges for Indian travelers, which we expect will boost our tourism-related industries and further bring mutual understanding and mutual benefits,” he added.
India, together with the Middle East and the Gulf Cooperation Council, is among the markets being explored by the DoT to compensate for the fall-off in arrivals from China.
China visitors amounted to 92,659 in the first four months, down 34.4% from a year earlier.
In the first four months, total arrivals hit 2.1 million, against 2.12 million in the same period last year. — Justine Irish D. Tabile