A double-digit increase is expected in the number of Filipinos looking to secure a visa for travel to Italy next year, as tens of thousands of Filipinos continue to fly to European countries for tourism or business trips.
Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Marco Clemente on Thursday said the embassy has so far issued 35,000 visas this year, which is a more than 50 percent increase compared to the 23,000 issued in 2022.
“I think we are a very interesting country to visit,” Clemente said when asked what is driving the growth during the inauguration of the Italy visa application center in Taguig.
“But I also hope that there would be an increase of interest for the Filipino business as a destination for doing business,” he added.
Clemente said that about one-third of the visas issued are for seafarers, while the remaining two-thirds are for tourists and Filipinos looking to visit family members.
The Italian Embassy in Manila has recently opened visa application centers in four key cities in the Philippines, the main one in Taguig and the other three in Cebu, Batangas, and Davao.
The embassy has touted the facilities to be state of the art, with additional services such as premium lounges, prime time submissions beyond normal working hours, personal assisted services, and translation services, among others.
Visa applicants also get dedicated call center support, along with a click-to-talk facility, webchat, email, and chatbot services.
“[The] Philippines is a key source [for the] tourism and business market for Italy and we are taking every possible measure to ease and streamline processes for travelers. The establishment of these new centers is an important step toward this strategy to further develop our bilateral relations,” said Clemente.
“These new visa application centers will help us in providing high-quality service to Italy visa applicants in the Philippines through a seamless visa application submission process,” he added.
Italy’s statistics office, Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, reported in 2008 that there were 113,686 documented Filipinos living in Italy, a substantial increase from 105,675 in the previous year.
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