According to the Department of Tourism, 176,857 foreigners have landed in the Philippines due to the COVID-19 epidemic since the country closed its borders to all passengers from visa and visa-free nations.
In a radio interview, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that the tourists arrived between February 10 and April 2, with the bulk coming from the United States, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
“At least bukas na, ‘yun naman ang laging sinasabi ng ating tourism stakeholders. At least bukas na tayo and at least sa Asia, upon the recommendations ng ating health experts, tayo ‘yung least travel restrictions,” she said.
(At the very least, our tourism stakeholders usually remark, “At least we’re open,” and “At least in Asia, we’re the country with the fewest travel restrictions,” according to our health experts.)
The Philippines began allowing foreign tourists, including those from visa-exempt countries, on Friday, April 1.
Since February 10, the Philippines has been open to business and leisure travelers from 157 visa-free countries.
Over 176K foreigners have arrived in PH since eased travel restrictions
Only fully vaccinated international travelers are permitted to enter the country. They must show a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test result 48 hours before departure or a negative laboratory-based antigen result in 24 hours before departure.
Furthermore, Puyat stated that practically all resorts and hotels in various tourist destinations are already fully booked ahead of Holy Week.
As a result, the Tourism Chief advised the general public and tourism stakeholders to acquire their primary vaccine series and booster injections and adhere to basic public health requirements throughout their holiday.
“Kunwari hindi pa kayo nagbo-booster, mag-booster na po kayo. Please, kahit na fully vaccinated with booster or kahit na negative kayo sa COVID, please follow minimum health and safety protocols pa rin,” she added.
(If you haven’t received your booster vaccinations yet, please do so; even if you have been completely vaccinated with a booster or are COVID-free, you should still follow basic health and safety precautions.)
On Sunday, 690 additional COVID-19 cases were reported in the Philippines, increasing the total number of cases to 3,679,629.
The number of people who have recovered has risen to 3,584,319, while the death toll has increased to 59,343.
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