Over 7,000 visitor arrivals logged since Feb. 10 border reopening
MORE THAN 7,000 international visitors landed in the Philippines since the borders reopened on Feb. 10 to fully vaccinated nationals who are not required to obtain visas to enter the Philippines, the Department of Tourism said.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said many of the visitors are balikbayans (returning Filipinos holding foreign nationality), though many other foreigners are here on business or are reuniting with their Filipino spouses and families after a long separation due to the pandemic.
“I was quite surprised when we reopened Feb. 10. I thought that only a few would come. But then… a lot came. In fact, if you count the four days from Thursday to Sunday, we’ve already had about 7,051 tourist arrivals. But of course, 45% are balikbayans (who are) considered tourists because they have foreign passports,” Ms. Puyat said in a television interview on Monday.
According to Ms. Puyat, the foreign nationals are American, Canadian, Australian, British, Japanese, and Korean.
Ms. Puyat said feedback from tour operators indicates that foreign visitors place a high value on ease of entry requirements.
“Some just really want to travel. That’s it. What they are looking at are travel restrictions. If it’s complicated to visit the country, they won’t. That’s it,” Ms. Puyat said.
On Feb. 10, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) allowed quarantine-free entry of fully vaccinated foreign nationals who do not require a visa to enter the Philippines.
Other requirements include a negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test taken 48 hours before departure from the country of origin, a passport valid for at least six months, an outbound ticket, and travel insurance that includes coronavirus coverage with a minimum payout of $35,000.
The Philippines has also been admitting returning Filipinos quarantine-free since Feb. 1. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
