More foreign travelers are expected to visit the country in the coming months with the government’s decision to ease the travel restrictions, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday, May 30.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the removal of the swab test requirements for arriving foreign tourists will encourage more visitors in the country, especially for the fully-vaccinated.
Also waived was the travel insurance requirement for arriving passengers.
“With this development, travel will be easier in the new normal and will boost international arrivals in the next few months,” said Morente.
Morente said that at the start of the dry (summer) season, the bureau recorded daily arrival of 15,000.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has earlier advised that fully vaccinated foreign nationals with booster shot are exempted from RT-PCR test.
Also exempted are fully vaccinated 12 to 17 years old children and below, regardless of vaccination status.
“We are hoping that little by little, the country’s international tourism sector can once again flourish," the BI chief said.