Philippines welcomes all foreign tourists from April 1

Travel to the Philippines will be made even smoother with the removal of an arrival cap at all ports of entry across the country from April 1, 2022.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) made the announcement on March 11, following the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to lift the arrival quota for unvaccinated passengers.

The Philippines will open to fully vaccinated tourists from all countries, without arrival limits, from April 1; Coron, Palawan pictured

Arriving passengers will submit a negative laboratory-based antigen test result taken within 24 hours from departure. This replaces the initial requirement of a negative RT-PCR test taken 48 hours prior to departure from point of origin.

The resumption of visa issuance by Philippine embassies and consulates will also start on April 1 to coincide with total removal of arrival quotas.

“This latest development opens the country to all fully vaccinated tourists from all countries, and means the country’s tourism industry is well on its way to recovery,” said tourism secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat.

“We at the DoT thank our colleagues in the IATF for approving such measures that will help sustain the recovery of the sector in the coming months. We have high hopes that all of these will result in an uptick in international travelers visiting the country during the summer season,” Puyat added.

The IATF Resolution 164-A also allows the entry of passport holders from Hong Kong and Macau for a period not exceeding 14 days.

There will also be 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.

“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 recognise the vaccination certificates of other countries is very important, noting that our top foreign markets were part of the visa-free countries,” she added.

Since reopened the borders to foreign travellers from visa-free countries on February 10, the Philippines has recorded 76,736 arrivals at the main airports. Of these, 43,249 were foreign tourists.

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