Boracay Island. Stanley Buenafe Gajete, ABS-CBN News file
MANILA - The Philippines expects more tourists to visit the country after it reopened its borders last week and its drive to vaccinate tourism workers, the Department of Tourism said on Tuesday.
Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said over 90 percent of the Philippines’ target tourism workers nationwide are now fully-vaccinated.
“The DOT’s goal has since shifted to providing fully vaccinated workers with booster shots, which will not only give them extra protection against the virus, but will also add to the confidence of local and foreign tourists as they make their way to the country’s many breathtaking destinations,” Puyat said.
According to the DOT, 323,206 individuals or 93.1 percent of the nationwide target of 353,075 tourism workers are already completely inoculated against COVID-19 as of 11 February 2021.
Of this, 57,347 or 17.7 percent have already received their booster shots.
The DOT said it expects a gradual increase in the number of tourist arrivals.
Fully vaccinated tourists are required to present proof of vaccination as well a negative RT-PCR test result taken within 48 hours prior to departure country of origin.
“International travel and tourism saw an unprecedented decline in visitor arrivals amid the pandemic; the reopening of Philippines’ borders to visitors from visa-free countries will surely help in improving our numbers," Puyat said.
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