More than 100,000 foreign tourists have visited the Philippines since the national government opened the country's borders to 157 visa-free nations last month, the Department of Tourism (DOT) revealed Friday, March 18.

Based on the recent data of One Health Pass (OHP), inbound tourists in the country have reached 102,031, a high note for the country since its temporary closure in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We are happy to see the gradual reopening of our borders finally bearing fruit as evidenced by the much higher foreign visitor arrivals. This will help safeguard the industry's revival, providing more jobs and livelihoods to Filipinos in the tourism sector," Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said.
According to Puyat, out of the 102,031 tourists, 22,243 are from the United States of America; followed by Canada (4,852); the United Kingdom (4,386); South Korea (3,748); Australia (3,387); Vietnam (2,656); Germany (1,976); and Japan (1,752).
She added that the eased measures such as the suspension of the country's classification system and relaxed entry protocols for fully-vaccinated leisure travelers helped with the influx of tourists visiting the country.
Earlier, the DOT announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved their recommendation to reopen the country's borders to tourists from all countries starting April 1.
The initial requirement includes a negative result of an RT-PCR test taken 48 hours before departure but the IATF included an alternative option for arriving passengers to submit negative laboratory-based antigen test results taken within 24 hours from departure.
"Our numbers are still far from pre-pandemic levels but we are optimistic that this will continue to increase amid the sustained decline in COVID-19 cases in the country as well as the ongoing efforts of the Philippine government to improve its healthcare capacity. On the DOT's part, we shall continue working with the IATF and our partners in the government and the private sector in coming up with measures that will sustain this growth," Puyat said.