The Philippine and Israeli governments are eager to pursue cooperation to boost their two-way tourism in the near future, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said.

The commitment was made formally during the signing of a joint declaration of intent on tourism cooperation between visiting Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz and Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco in Makati on Tuesday.

“This collaboration opens new doors to showcase the rich heritage, the natural beauty, and vibrant cultures of our respective countries – it is an opportunity to create meaningful connections between our peoples while driving economic growth through the power of travel,” Frasco said.

She said the DOT would work with its Israeli counterparts to shape this future partnership and explore possible areas of tourism collaboration.

The joint declaration was inked ahead of the signing of a more formal Philippine-Israel memorandum of understanding (MOU) on tourism, which is still under negotiation between the two governments.

Currently, the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) bulletin advising Filipinos to postpone non-essential travel to Israel is still in effect.

In his remarks, Katz said the situation in Israel had been “very quiet at least in the last months” and that the country is now hoping to welcome visitors, especially Christians in time for the jubilee year of the Roman Catholic in 2025.

“2025 is the jubilee year for the Roman Catholic communities all around the world, and therefore it’s very important and we’re looking forward to see more of your countrymen coming to the Holy Land, the land of Israel,” he said in Hebrew.

“Since we are starting a new era of peace, we’re looking forward to see more also Israeli tourists here to the Philippines, not only Filipino tourists to Israel.”

In addition, he floated the need to launch a direct flight between the two states “at least once a week” not only to boost tourism flow but also to enhance the two nations’ “good relations.”

Opportunity market

Israelis rank as the Philippines’ top 30 visitors, with an estimated 12,742 making a stop in the country in 2023.

Since the beginning of this year, the number has grown to 13,835 but Katz said this could even climb to up to 100,000 if direct flights are established.

“We view Israel as an opportunity market, especially that the Philippines offers tourism products that are very attractive and popular with the Israeli market, including and especially our dive tourism, as well as our gastronomy, leisure activities, and adventure activities,” Frasco said.

“So, we very much welcome the signing of (this) Joint Declaration of Intent to cooperate on tourism.”

In a meeting before the signing, Frasco conveyed to Katz the Philippines’ recognition of the long-standing relations between the Philippines and Israel, agreeing that tourism should serve as a platform for collaboration.

“Our discussion centered on the Israelis’ love of diving in the Philippines – we also centered our alignments in terms of our support for organizations, such as the United Nations Tourism, where we agreed that cross-border and regional cooperation is absolutely important to ensure that tourism benefits our nations mutually,” she said.

“We are very eager to cooperate in terms of gastronomy tourism, pilgrimage tourism, heritage and culture, as well as in human capital development.”

PH assessing situation

In an interview on the sidelines of the signing, Foreign Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary for Middle East and African Affairs Marlowe Miranda said the DFA is constantly assessing the security situation in Israel and the whole region.

“We have to have actual maybe a visit to Israel to really be certain about the assessment of the security situation. So, it cannot be done in a snap. It should be done very carefully, there’s a system to do,” he said.

“Of course, we will support the move of the Department of Tourism to increase tourism going to Israel by Filipinos and also Israelis coming to the Philippines. We fully support that.”

At the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, the DFA last year came out with a travel bulletin advising against non-essential travel to Israel.

It issued the same advisory in May 2024, calling on the public to postpone all tourism visits, pilgrimages, temporary stays with relatives and friends, volunteer work, sports events, entertainment and similar activities to Israel, Palestine, and nearby countries under Alert Level 2 or higher.

“It still stands and, of course, it is not really a ban but we’d say caveat for Filipinos who want to go there,” Miranda said. (PNA)