Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 31) — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is expecting that more tourists will visit the country after the Inter-Agency Task Force for COVID-19 response eased travel restrictions.
In a statement issued on Monday, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the IATF’s decision to lift the negative RT-PCR requirement for arriving passengers who have completed the primary vaccination and received at least one booster shot will encourage more travelers to visit the country.
“With this development, travel will be easier in the new normal,” he added. “We hope that this will boost the number of international arrivals in the next few months.”
Morente also said that arrivals increased to around 15,000 per day since February but “plateaued at the tail end of summer.”
“We are hoping that little by little, the country’s international tourism sector can once again flourish as we move towards the new normal,” he added.
The IATF has advised that starting May 30, fully vaccinated foreign nationals with booster shots no longer need to present a negative RT-PCR test result upon arrival in the Philippines. Fully vaccinated children aged 12 to 17 and those aged below 12 are also exempted regardless of vaccination status.
