Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Since the Philippines reopened its borders to international tourism, more than 7,000 foreign touristsvisited the country, according to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, who said that she was surprised by the number of tourist arrivals.
On Thursday, February 10, the Philippines allowed entry of fully vaccinated tourists from 157 countries that have visa-free arrangements with the Philippines.
“I was quite surprised when we reopened Feb. 10, I thought that only a few would come. But then I was so surprised that a lot came,” said.
“If you count the four days—from Thursday to Sunday—we’ve already had about 7,051 tourist arrivals but of course, 45 percent are balikbayans but balikbayans are considered tourists because they have foreign passports,” she added.
Majority of the tourists visiting the Philippines previously are Americans, Canadians, Australians and British nationals, according to the tourism secretary.
“We even have Japanese, Koreans. They already came as early as Feb. 10,” Puyat added.
Tags: Philippines
