The proposal to allow certain foreign nationals to stay longer as tourists in the Philippines will benefit the entire value chain of the tourism industry, according to Samie Lim, chair of the tourism committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“If these tourists are allowed to come in, there is no reason why their stay cannot be extended. The Philippines has a lot of interesting things to offer. If they stay longer, they get to love the Philippines more,” Lim said in an interview with Malaya Business Insight.
In a statement, Secretary Christina Frasco of the Department of Tourism (DOT) said the proposal to extend the length of stay of foreign nationals who are holders of AJACS (American, Japanese, Australian, Canadian, and Schengen countries) and AJACSUK (American, Japanese, Australian, Canadian, Schengen countries, Singapore, and United Kingdom) visas from 7 to 30 days will increase tourism spending and redound to the benefit of local businesses and tourism stakeholders with more revenues spent at destinations.
“(The DOT) welcomes the liberalization (of) visa policies coming into and staying in the Philippines especially that this is one of the biggest hurdles towards attracting international visitors and is a competitive edge that nearly all of our Asean neighbors have already implemented,” Frasco said in reaction to proposal discussed last week by the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Meeting. PSAC is chaired by Marcos Jr.
She added. “We welcome the President’s directive to the Department of Foreign Affairs to carry this out at the soonest possible time as the difficulty of entry of obtaining visas has already heavily affected and continues to be one of the biggest challenges to our international arrivals targets.”
Lim said longer staying tourists will have the opportunity to explore more tourism activities and visit tourism sites and will thus benefit industry players from accommodations to retail.
Based on government data, the average length of stay of foreign tourist is 7 to 10 days, spending $100 to $150 per day.
Frasco in her statement also noted the need to implement extensively its electronic visa (e-visa) system as this removes inconvenience and favors ease of access.
However, this should be implemented with the right security measures in place, Frasco said, without elaborating.
The Philippines has a Visa Upon Arrival (VUA) for citizens of countries which have a bilateral or multilateral agreement with the Philippines, or for citizens have been cleared for visa-on-arrival access.
The Philippines also has an e-visa system where foreign nationals need not go to the embassy or consulate to apply for a visa. This is not widely implemented and applies only for the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and China
Lim said there are foreign nationals who are allowed to enter the Philippines with no visa and should therefore not go through the trouble of reapplying.
He said this is especially true for countries which have been vetted under the VUA system.
“This is not for all countries anyway, “he said, adding that any step, whether electronic or manual, that would ease the entry of tourists will be welcomed.
Frasco said the DOT welcomes the President’s directive to introduce technological innovations and digitalization in the processes of the Bureau of Immigration, incorporating biometric technologies such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning to streamline arrivals and departures as these are key objectives to improve tourist touchpoints and ensure seamless entry
In July, the government launched the Cruise Visa Waiver Program, another step towards significantly boosting international cruise tourism arrivals.
