(Manila) The Philippines will soon welcome foreign tourists again, the government announced on Friday, which is preparing to partially reopen the country’s borders for travelers vaccinated against COVID-19.
A working group in charge of the fight against COVID-19 within the government has “approved in principle” the request of the Ministry of Tourism to authorize entry into the territory to the vaccinated travelers coming from countries where the rate of contamination is low, said Tourism Minister Berna Puyat.
The borders of the archipelago, famous for its sandy beaches, will be “soon” reopened, according to the press release, which did not mention any dates.
This measure should bring a breath of fresh air to the Philippine tourism sector, devastated by twenty months of border closures and a restriction of movement within the country in order to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
“Allowing tourists from“ green ”countries or territories, that is to say with a low rate of contamination and where the majority of the population is vaccinated, will greatly contribute to our efforts to recover” the economy, said declared Mme Puyat.
More than forty countries and territories are currently classified “green”, that is to say that they present a low risk and are not subject to quarantine measures, in particular China or Indonesia.
Tourism is an important engine of the economy of this Southeast Asian country. It represented nearly 13% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019, the year in which the archipelago welcomed more than eight million visitors, according to official figures.
That rate collapsed to 5.4% last year, as tourist arrivals fell 82% to 1.48 million.
The government has eased restrictions related to the coronavirus in recent weeks, as the daily infection rate is at its lowest level since the start of the year and the vaccination rate is gradually increasing.
About a third of the country’s 110 million people are fully immunized.