MANILA, 15 March 2022: The Philippines’ Department of Tourism is confident the country will fully reopen borders to welcome international tourists by April of this year.
Currently, only fully vaccinated foreign leisure travellers from 157 visa-free countries can enter the Philippines.
Commenting on moving forward to a full reopening, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said: “Right now, (the Philippines is) only for 157 visa-free countries, but we are hoping that by April, we will be open to all foreigners,”
Quoted by the Philippines News Agency, she said the initial recommendation to limit leisure travellers from countries with visa-free eligibility and the easing of restriction that started last 10 February came from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
From 10 February to 8 March, the DOT has recorded 73,178 tourists, mainly from South Korea, the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Vietnam, and Japan. In 2019 the country welcomed 8.28 million tourist arrivals.
(Source: PNA)
