“Safe travels.”
The other day, the Department of Tourism announced that starting April 1, there will be no more limit to the number of international passengers arriving in all ports of entry in the country in accordance with Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ Resolution 164-A. The document states that submission of a negative laboratory-based antigen test result taken within 24 hours from departure is an alternate option for arriving passengers, in place of the initial requirement of a negative result of an RT-PCR test taken 48 hours prior to departure from point of origin.
In line with this, Philippine embassies and consulates will also resume visa processing starting on the same day.
This development, according to Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat signals the country’s opening up to all fully vaccinated tourists from all countries, and means the country’s tourism industry is well on its way to recovery.
The IATF Resolution 164-A also allows the entry of passport holders from Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR for a period not exceeding 14 days.
IATF Resolution 164, on the other hand, approves the reciprocal recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates from Croatia, Cyprus, and Nepal which are among the 157 countries whose citizens can enter the Philippines without a visa under EO 408.
“While our domestic tourists have been the pillar of our recovery, we are also excited to welcome more foreign visitors in the weeks ahead. Such a move to further ease our borders and recognize the vaccination certificates of other countries is very important, noting that our top foreign markets were part of the visa-free countries,” says Romulo-Puyat.
To recall, the Philippines reopened its doors to foreign leisure travelers from visa-free countries on February 10.
Based on the DOT’s data as of March 9 2022, the number of arrivals in the country’s main airports have reached 76,736. Of this number, 43,249 are foreign tourists, while 33,487 are balikbayans.
Complementing the decision to lift the number of tourist arrival in the country, the Tourism Promotion Board and the DoT bared the expansion of their subsidy program for Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction for qualified foreign and local travelers, including Balikbayans, flying in and out of Clark International Airport.
TPB formalized partnership with the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital Center (JBLGHC) for the RT-PCR Subsidy Program in Central Luzon during the ceremonial MOA signing held virtually last 23 February.
“This program is part of the DOT and TPB’s efforts to promote domestic tourism with an incentive to the traveling public. Now, we will be extending the subsidy program to Central Luzon to ignite domestic travel in the region via Clark Airport to our countries’ major destinations,” said TPB Chief Operating Officer Maria Anthonette Velasco-Allones.
The RT-PCR Subsidy Program in Central Luzon will run until June 2022 offering free RT-PCR tests for 4,400 qualified unvaccinated or partially vaccinated domestic tourists and 50-percent discounted rate for 575 foreign travelers or balikbayans.
Meanwhile, partner agencies, BCDA and JBLMGH, expressed their full support and cooperation for the successful implementation of the program.
TPB-DOT RT-PCR Subsidy Program was launched in December 2020 as part of the recovery program of the agencies with Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) and University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital (UPPGH) as partner health facilities. To date, the program has benefitted more than 45,100 qualified domestic tourists.
With this expansion, TPB and DOT are optimistic that it will harness and restore confidence of the public to travel particularly in regions 1, 2 and 3 and also sustain the newly revived flights from Clark to Boracay and Cebu, bringing in a total of 5,884 travelers moving domestically every month.
The virus may still be here and some restrictions might still be in place, but at least, we are now slowly easing our way back to the old normal, especially on the tourism front. It seems we’re almost back.
Anyway, to avail RT-PCR test, travelers must first register online to pre-schedule at https://www.tpb.gov.ph/rtpcrtravel-centralluzon/ and submit a valid government-issued identification card, proof of hotel booking in a DOT-accredited accommodation establishment, and proof of mode of travel such as airline or bus ticket.
Happy and safe travels!