Local airlines on Tuesday lauded the removal of vaccine certificates for inbound foreign travelers saying this would further boost the number of international tourists visiting the Philippines.
“We welcome this development that further eases travel to the Philippines and helps boost inbound tourist traffic. We look forward to serving more tourist and business travelers in our international and domestic travel sectors,” Cielo Villaluna, PAL spokesperson said.
“We will continue to work on enhancing the passenger experience through digital transformation and fleet expansion,” she added.
DOH Circular 2023-06 has instructed all airports and seaports in the country that “all arriving international travelers are accepted regardless of their vaccination status”.
The circular followed an earlier Transportation Department announcement scrapping the mandatory wearing of face masks in public transportation.
“Since the pandemic, the vaccine certificate has been the most essential travel requirement for inbound tourists. The lifting of this travel requirement is a major step towards making travel more seamless and will definitely encourage travelers, regardless of vaccination status, to experience the Philippines,” Steve Dailisan, AirAsia Philippines head of communications and public affairs, said.
“This is also very timely now that we are a few days away from welcoming the “Ber” months, the usual peak of travel in the Philippines,” he added.
AirAsia Philippines’ marketing analytics show the period from 1 January to 32 August 2023 when Koreans lead all others in visiting the Philippines with 13 percent. They were succeeded by the Japanese with 7 percent, the Chinese with 6 percent, Taiwanese with 3 percent, and a conglomerate of Americans and other nationalities constituting 22 percent.
Noteworthy destinations during the period encompass Cebu, Caticlan (Boracay), Davao, Iloilo, and Tacloban.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) targets the arrival of 4.8 million tourists visiting the Philippines this year.
