Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration (BI) is reporting a considerable increase in the number of passengers arriving since the country reopened its borders to foreign tourists last month, recording a nearly 41% increase in tourist arrivals.
According to BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval, the bureau registered 211,899 tourist arrivals in February, which is 40.57 percent greater than the 150,740 tourist arrivals in January, when the country’s borders were reopened to international tourists from visa-free nations.
According to Sandoval, tourist arrivals in February this year more than doubled when compared to the same month last year.
“We have seen a significant rise in the number of passengers since we opened our borders for fully vaccinated foreign nationals this February as compared (with that of) 2021. While we are not yet seeing pre-pandemic figures, we are confident that this steady increase is the start of the recovery of the country’s international travel and tourism industries,” she said.
Last February 10,Philippines began reopening its borders to fully vaccinated foreign nationals from visa-free countries.
After allegedly failing to comply with the standards of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, 55 foreigners were denied entrance.
According to BI port operations manager Carlos Capulong, the BI registered 154,661 Filipino arrivals last month, followed by 21,383 American arrivals, 4,026 Canadian arrivals, and 3,250 British arrivals.
Capulong stated that they are prepared for a steady increase in passengers in the coming months, emphasizing that foreign airline flights are better this year.
