The Department of Philippines recorded a growth of 17.14 per cent in 2014 in arrivals of Indians over 2013. Over 61,000 Indians visited the Philippines in 2014. It is expected that this number will rise to around 75,000 in 2015.

India is the 13th largest source market for Philippines foreign tourist arrivals and the potential for growth is tremendous. India is expected to be one of the top 10 largest source markets by 2016 targeting 100,000 arrivals with the visa relaxation and new tourism promotion activities.

With 2015 being declared as ‘Visit the Philippines Year’, a rise of 20 per cent has been targeted for outbound increase from India.

This year Philippines is all set to become the ultimate destination for Indian travellers in 2015 with the launch of Department of Tourism, Philippines ‘Visit the Philippines Year 2015’.

The Department of Tourism, Philippines has declared 2015 as ‘Visit the Philippines Year 2015’ as it coincides with the major events like the PapalVisit, MTV Music Evolution, Madrid Fusion- Manila 2015, MTV, Ministerial Meeting and Leaders’ Summit. These make 2015 the perfect year for the private sector including airlines, hotels, resorts, restaurants, event organisers and travel and transportation agencies, to roll out red carpet for foreigners to visit the Philippines.

India is emerging as one of the world’s fastest-growing outbound markets and the rapid growth has been fuelled by many factors, which include more disposable income and greater connectivity.

The Department of Philippines has been organising road shows in all the major cities in India to penetrate the outbound tourist market and raise awareness about the colossal portfolio of tourism products in Philippines. The Department is also organising marketing activities in Tier II and Tier III cities to attract more Indian travellers to Philippines.