Philippines reopens borders for fully vaccinated
The Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) has recently announced that its borders will be reopened to fully-vaccinated tourists from all countries from April 1, 2022.
Commenting on the development, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat affirmed the department is optimistic about more inbound arrivals following simplification of entry rules.
“The optimism can be attributed to a new resolution approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). Under the new resolution, effective 1 April 2022, foreign nationals can enter Philippines without the need for an Entry Exemption Document (EED). This is provided they comply with applicable visa and immigration laws and regulations,” said Romulo-Puyat.
Going by records, the EED is the first requirement for foreigners from visa-required countries to enter the Philippines. By presenting this document, the foreigners could acquire a short-term visa to enter the country.
In Puyat’s view, the new resolution will encourage foreign nationals to visit the country and, in turn, help increase tourism revenue and boost the economy. However, the tourists visiting the country will still be required to be fully vaccinated, and undergo pre-departure RT-PCR or antigen tests before entry into Philippines. Those who are not vaccinated and not compliant with visa and immigration laws and regulations of Philippines shall be subject to exclusion proceedings.
Buzz Marketing, a leading destination marketing and tourism representation company, will be charting out plans to update the travel industry on the latest initiatives. Plans for the coming months will include destination profiling, media interactions, and training to better sell the destination as travel is slowing but surely returning to normalcy.
“With the travellers from the Middle East always looking for new experiences, the new resolution would encourage them to enter the Philippines which has an abundance of varied tourist attractions. We are optimistic that tourist footsteps to Philippines will increase in the coming months,” said Seema Datt, Director, Buzz Travel Marketing, Middle East.
Puyat added: “The National government shall endeavour to relax requirements relating to global travel and provide quarantine exemptions for vaccinated individuals coming into the country to boost tourism, increase foreign investments, and restore jobs in the tourism sector.” – TradeArabia News Service