DUBAI More Indians are flying to the Philippines for leisure or business, with a 40-per cent spike in visa applications received by the Philippine consulate here, XPRESS has learnt.
“Indians comprised the bulk of visit visa applications we received till September,” said Frank Cima-franca, Philippine consul general in Dubai.
Last year, Manila relaxed rules allowing Indian international travellers to enter and stay visa-free in the island-nation for two weeks, provided they hold valid visas from an EU-member country or six other countries (US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Singapore and UK).
The big jump is partly due to the relatively low figures. In 2012, there were 46,395 Indians who visited the Philippines, a 41-per cent jump from 2009 arrivals, according to Manila authorities.
It’s not just Indians exploring the Philippines. On Wednesday, Serbians were seen making a bee-line to the Dubai consulate to apply for visit visas.
Emiratis and citizens of Western countries can fly visa-free to the Philippines. Tourist arrivals jumped 11 per cent to 2.8 million from January to July in Manila. Tourism officials seek to woo 8 million visitors by 2015.
Seats on direct flights between the UAE and the Philippines are set to double before end-2013 following “pocket open skies” policy of the Aquino government.
By end-November, five additional direct flights between the UAE and Philippines will fly. Besides Emirates and Cebu Pacific, which started operating daily flights this month, legacy carrier PAL is reviving twice-daily flights to the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) after a 15-year absence.
