The Philippines is readying to host the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit from 20-22 April, a month from its original March date. Photo Credit: Department of Tourism Philippines
Starting 10 February, the Philippines started welcoming
fully-vaccinated foreign travellers from 157 destinations, the first
time the destination is doing so since the start of the pandemic in
2020.
Discovery of the Omicron variant had delayed an earlier planned
opening to welcome fully vaccinated tourists from Green List
destinations starting 1 December, 2021.
Ma. Anthonette Velasco-Allones, Chief-Operating-Officer at Tourism
Promotions Board (TPB) is anticipating "quite an optimistic outlook" for
2022, especially with the upcoming in-person World Travel and Tourism
Council (WTTC) Global Summit in April, and the Clipper Round the World
Yacht Race in March.
Together with the Department of Tourism (DOT), both teams are
preparing to launch a global MICE campaign this year, a move that's not
been done before, said Velasco-Allones in a 2 February Philippine News
Agency report.
To enter the Philippines, all arriving travellers must arrive on
passports with at least six months validity, and present 1) proof of
vaccination, 2) negative RT-PCR test results taken within 48 hours
before departure from country of origin, 3) stay no longer than 30 days,
4) purchase travel insurance with a minimum coverage of US$35,000.
While foreign travellers will not need to undergo quarantine, Tourism
Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat sounded the reminder to continue
self-monitoring, and report to the local government unit of their
destination should they exhibit any of symptoms of the virus.
One of the key factors in reopening lies in a strong health and
safety protocols system, including a high rate of 92.51% tourism
professionals who are fully-vaxxed.
Covid-19 booster shots were also recently administered to tourism
workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Boracay Island — where
meetings professionals from the Boracay MICE Alliance hope to push the
tropical island as an incentives haven.
“The pandemic served as a good trigger for the tourism industry in
Boracay to really band together and be more creative so we could find
ways to bring people back to Boracay, thus the push for more MICE
events. If not for the pandemic, I don’t think the push for MICE in
Boracay would be a priority, said Cleofe Albiso, chair of the Boracay
MICE Alliance, in an Inquirer.net report.