President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the Value-Added Tax Refund Program for foreign tourists by 2024 to boost tourist arrivals in the country.
M. Marcos also approved the rolling out of e-visa by 2023, prioritizing China and India, and the removal of One Health Pass (OHP) requirement for entry.
The Presidential Communications Office said Mr. Marcos made thedecision during his meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Tourism Sector Group.
PSAC made several “Quick Wins” recommendations, including therevocation of outdated advisories and loud-speaker announcements in the country’s airports and the automatic inclusion of travel tax in all airline tickets.
The Quick Wins proposals, which were presented by PSAC to the chiefexecutive during a meeting in Malacañang last week, are aimed atfurther boosting the country’s tourism industry, managing the nationalbrand and image, as well as promoting tourism investments, among others.
PSAC officials also told Mr. Marcos that they are working on a mobile app called e-Travel, which integrates all of the information on immigration, customs, health and quarantine.
They said the app, which could be ready for use within the month or byFebruary at the latest, is being modified to allow groups or families to easily input data.
The database will also include tourist destinations, transport and hotel information, as well as traffic condition.
Tourists can complete the form through the app before boarding or while onboard the plane as long as they have internet connection.
Mr. Marcos has actively pushed for digitalization in government which he said would allow tourists to easily fill out forms while traveling.
The PSAC is composed of business leaders and industry experts providing technical advice to the President in achieving the government’s economic objectives in six key sectors — agriculture, digital infrastructure, healthcare, infrastructure, jobs generation and tourism.
A total of 2.65 million tourists visited the country from February to December last year, of which 2.02 million were foreign tourists.
The figure is higher than the 2021 tourist arrivals of 163,879 but still significantly lower than the pre-pandemic level of 8.26 million.
This year, the Department of Tourism (DOT) targets to welcome 4.8 million visitors, which could generate P2.58 trillion in revenues.
