Pandemic-driven slump Passenger arrivals to PH drop in 3Q of 2021 photo The Manila Times
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Pandemic-driven slump: Passenger arrivals to PH drop in 3Q of 2021

Nov 1, 2021, 7:58 AM
Benjamin Lim

Benjamin Lim

Writer

The Bureau of Immigration is optimistic that the travel industry will bounce back soon, as the country begins to relax travel restrictions following its aggressive vaccination drive against Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the international travel industry has resulted in fewer arrivals to the Philippines during the first nine months of 2021, according to authorities.

According to the Bureau of Immigration (BI), a total of 893,886 international arrivals were recorded from January to September, 72 percent lower than the 3.2 million passenger arrivals recorded during the same period in 2020.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente attributed the low figures to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the international travel industry.

"This is a far cry from our pre-pandemic figures, wherein we reached 12.6 million arrivals already by the 3rd quarter,” the BI commissioner stated.

He explained that although the pandemic started in 2020, it was late March that the country closed its borders, and there were already 2.8 million arrivals recorded at the beginning of the year.

“Statistics show that since January the volume of arrivals in our international ports has been averaging at only around 90,000 to 100,000 a month so we foresee this trend to persist until the end of this year,” he added.

The decline in number of passengers is due to the daily cap on passenger arrivals as well as the imposed travel restrictions.

Departures affected, too

Morente also reported a 68-percent drop in the number of passengers who departed for abroad during the first three-quarters of the year.

The official bared that a total of 1.1 million travelers left the country during the period, compared to the 3.6 million who departed a year ago.

“The bulk of these travelers were overseas Filipino workers as well as foreigners who were returning to their home countries,” Morente said.

Despite the low figures, the bureau is optimistic that the travel industry will bounce back soon, as the country begins to relax travel restrictions following its aggressive vaccination drive against Covid-19.

Tags: #Covid19, #travelandtourism, #internationalarrivals, #BureauOfImmigration


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