In a bid to boost its tourism numbers from the Middle East, the Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT), in cooperation with travel partners from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and the Philippines launched the second edition of the ‘Kids Go Free’ campaign.

The campaign has been rolled out targeting families seeking leisure and fun experiences. It is exclusive to visitors from the Middle East and forms part of a list of events being held as part of the Visit Philippines Year 2015 celebrations.

The launch of the first campaign in 2014 resulted in an increase of 17% from GCC visitors as compared to 2013. Additionally, the campaign’s validity has also been extended from July 2015 until March 2016, and will include Eid Al Adha holidays.

Director Verna Covar-Buensuceso, officer-in-charge of market development group, PDOT said: “The campaign has been relaunched based on demand and with the support of our GCC travel agent and tourism industry partners. We are also looking at positioning Philippines as a ‘top of mind’ family holiday destination especially for the upcoming Eid Al Adha holidays.”

Recent statistics show that total number of visitors from the Middle East was recorded at 76,163 in 2014, an increase of 10.52% compared to 2013. Visitors from UAE and Saudi Arabia lead the region in terms of visitor numbers, with Saudi Arabia providing 43,483 visitors in 2014 and the UAE with 17,000 visitors.

According to latest statistics, a positive trend is continuing with visitors from UAE up by 11.98% for the first five months of 2015 compared to 2014.