The Department of Tourism (DOT) sees a sustained recovery of the heavily impacted sector two years into the pandemic, just barely two weeks after the country opened its borders for leisure foreign travelers.
According to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, from February 10-28 —or 19 days since the reopening of the tourism sector to international travelers—a total of 47,715 tourists have arrived in the country.
Of these, 26,306 or 55 percent were foreign visitors, while 21,409 or 45 percent were balikbayan.
The bulk of the arrivals was from the United States, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Australia—which were also among the top markets before the pandemic hit.
The Philippines has since welcomed fully vaccinated foreign leisure travelers from visa-free countries starting February 10.
In a statement on Thursday, Romulo-Puyat said tourist arrivals since then have gradually been picking up, and the DOT was looking forward to an uptick during the summer season and the Holy Week break this April.
“We are proud to say that our entry requirements are delivered in a simple format, without the need for facility-based quarantine primarily for fully vaccinated visitors,” the DOT chief said.
“Tourists are allowed to travel to all reopened tourist destinations in the country as long as they comply with the requirements from the [local governments] with jurisdiction over these areas,” she added.
Tourists from some 150 countries that have visa-free entry to the Philippines have been allowed to enter, requiring only to show proof of vaccination. They also do not need to quarantine.
In late February, the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the World Health Organization called for the lifting of travel bans, saying they do not provide added value and continue to contribute to economic and social stress. (©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2022 / Dexter Cabalza)
