The Philippines is seeking to expand flights to Bahrain, particularly to Cebu, as part of efforts to attract more tourists from the Middle East.
This request was raised during a bilateral meeting between Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and Bahrain Tourism Minister Fatima J. Al Sairafi on the sidelines of the recent 9th UN World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism. Currently, Philippine Airlines operates nonstop flights between Bahrain and Manila through a code-sharing agreement with Gulf Air. Frasco, who serves as vice chair of the
Civil Aeronautics Board, emphasized the need to boost aviation connections to drive tourism growth.
From January to October this year, 5,528 tourists from Bahrain visited the Philippines, a 16% increase compared to the same period in 2023. In 2019, before the pandemic, arrivals from Bahrain were recorded at just 3,296. Similarly, tourist arrivals from the Middle East last year exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 9.7%, reaching 80,851.
The Philippines aims to attract more Middle Eastern visitors by encouraging the local hospitality industry to adopt halal measures and implement Muslim-friendly standards and guidelines.
In a news statement, the Department of Tourism (DOT) revealed that Frasco and Al Sairafi discussed potential joint promotions, professional exchanges, strategies to enhance the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) sector, tourism investments, education in tourism and hospitality, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
Al Sairafi welcomed Frasco’s proposal to update the 2003 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on tourism cooperation between the two nations. “I believe that the MOU will put the silver lining for our cooperation, and I’m so happy that you are here in the Kingdom of Bahrain so that we could start discussing ways that we can collaborate,” Al Sairafi said.
Present at the meeting were Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) Chief Executive Officer Sarah Ahmed Buheji, BTEA Director of Marketing and Promotions Maryam Toorani, Vatel Hospitality and Tourism Business School General Director Sheikh Khaled bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, and Exhibition World Bahrain (EWB) General Manager Alan Pryor.
