Philippines DOT chief expects tourism to recover in 2022

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on Wednesday expressed confidence that this year, the tourism sector will recover from the impact of COVID-19.

“When you talk about tourism, yes,” Puyat said when asked if the recovery of the tourism sector will happen this 2022.
“Hinihintay lang ng ating tourism stakeholders namagbukas. Ang pagbukas kasi for foreigners means that we are going back to normal,” she added.

As of Tuesday, Puyat said that a total of 10,676 foreign travellers arrived since the border of the country opened for them on February 10. Around 45 per cent of the arrivals are balikbayans.

The foreigners came from the US, Canada, Australia, UK, South Korea, Germany, and Japan, according to Puyat.
For leisure, the DOT chief said the occupancy rate in hotels is now at 29 per cent.

In Joseph Morong’s report on 24 Oras, Puyat said that tourism stakeholders are offering affordable rates as the country opens up, “kasi siyempre [because of course] they want to entice the visitors.”

The DOT wants travel requirements to be simplified, not just for foreign tourists but for domestic ones as well. “Gusto lang nganamin We just want fully vaccinated and minimum health and safety protocols,” Puyat said.

“I also remind our LGUs, silarin naman ang nakiusapnamagbukas tayo [they are the ones who urged that we open up] for foreigners and for tourists, so they should also help us make it simpler,” she added.

Tourism’s contribution to the economy plummeted to P873 billion in 2020 compared to P2.507 trillion in 2019, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

In April, the Philippines will host the global summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council.

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