Over 100,000 foreign tourists arrive in Philippines since reopening of borders

Over 100,000 foreign tourists have arrived in the Philippines since the Southeast Asian country reopened its borders last month, the government said on Friday.

The country famous for pristine white beaches allowed fully-vaccinated foreign nationals from visa-free countries and regions to enter in February. This month it eased further the COVID-19 restrictions, allowing entry to all fully-vaccinated foreign nationals.

"Inbound visitor arrivals reached 102,031 as of March 16, a high note for the country since its closure of borders at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020," Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

Puyat expressed optimism the influx of foreign tourists will lead to the "inevitable revival of the sector" hardly hit by the pandemic.

"We are happy to see the gradual reopening of our borders finally bearing fruit as evidenced by the much higher foreign visitor arrivals," she said, hoping the reopening will provide more jobs and livelihoods to Filipinos in the tourism sector.

As a key economic driver, the tourism industry's contribution to the Philippines' gross domestic product stood at 12.7 percent in 2019, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The pandemic has badly hit the tourism sector in the Philippines, forcing hotels and airlines to lay off staff. Almost 1.1 million workers were affected in the tourism industry across the country.

Data showed that tourists from the United States topped arrivals, followed by Canada, Britain, South Korea and Australia.

"Our numbers are still far from pre-pandemic levels, but we are optimistic that this will continue to increase amid the sustained decline in COVID-19 cases in the country as well as the ongoing efforts of the Philippine government to improve its healthcare capacity," Puyat said. ■