Visitor arrivals, 45 percent of them balikbayans (returning Filipinos with foreign visas), since February 10 reached over 7,000 because travelers found the entry requirements of the Philippines easy enough.
SINCE the borders were opened last February 10, the number of visitor arrivals to the country hit over 7,000 fully- vaccinated people who were not required to obtain visas to enter the Philippines.
The Department of Tourism said many of them were balikbayans (returning Filipinos holding foreign nationalities) 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.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said: “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 percent are balikbayans (who are) considered tourists because they have foreign passports,” Puyat said in a television interview.
Puyat said the foreign nationals are American, Canadian, Australian, British, Japanese, and Korean, Business World reported.
Ease of entry
She added that 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,” 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.
Tags: #DoT, #visitorarrivals, #easeofentry, #travelrequirements, #tourism