by Faith Argosino, Manila Bulletin
Almost 100,000 tourists have arrived since the Philippines reopened its borders to 157 countries visa-free countries, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said on Thursday, March 17.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said they expect the number of inbound tourists to increase starting April 1 when the country further eases the restrictions to all foreign tourists based on the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).
“From Feb. 10 to March 15, we’ve already received 96,096 tourists. We’re pleasantly surprised […] this was only from visa-free countries,” Puyat said in an interview with TeleRadyo.
Puyat said freight tourist still need to present a negative result of the RT-PCR test taken 48 hours before their departure for fully-vaccinated tourists from visa-free countries.
She added that the exact requirement applies to tourists from visa countries, but the IATF included an alternative option for passengers to submit a negative laboratory-based antigen test result taken 24 hours before departure.
For local and foreign tourists planning to travel this summer season, Puyat reminded them to follow the minimum health and safety protocols.
“Palagi namin pinapaalala even you’re fully vaccinated, boosted or negative kayo sa RT-PCR please still follow minimum health and safety protocols lalo na yung pagsusuot ng mask (We always remind that even if you’re fully vaccinated, booted, or received a negative result of RT-PCR test, please still follow minimum health and safety protocols, especially wearing a mask),” she said.
