BI expects up to 14K international arrivals in April

The Bureau of Immigration said Saturday that it is seeing 12,000 up to 14,000 international arrivals in April, after government decided to reopen its borders to travelers from all countries.

At the Laging Handa briefing, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval noted the increasing number of international passenger arrivals, which could continue to go up during the dry season. 

“Given the summer season tingin po natin tataas po ito lalo na nitong April kasagsagan po ng summer yan summer at historically marami po talagang pumupuntang foreigners dito po sa bansa  because of our climate napakaganda ng klima po natin compared po sa kani-kanilang bansa na malamig and siguro uncomfortable so pupunta po sila dito to enjoy to the summer,” she said.

(During the summer season, we think the number of foreign arrivals will go up, especially this April, which normally is the best time of year to visit the Philippines for the fair weather.  Our climate is very good compared to temperate countries where the temperature is cold, and coming to the Philippines is a good option for vacation.

We are projecting 12,000 to 14,000 arrivals, or even more for April, as a result of the Philippines' opening its boarders to fully-vaccinated tourists.)

Sandoval said they recorded a total of 13,525 arrivals on April 1, the first day of the Philippines' reopening its borders to travelers from all countries, including from visa countries.

On April 1, we nearly returned to the pre-pandemic border policies. The total number of arrivals was at 13,525, and 90% of the number came in through NAIA. Essentially we are seeing a gradual but consistent increase, she said in Filipino.

She said there is also an uptick of passenger arrivals from various countries including the United States, Japan, and Korea.

“Karamihan po sa ating arrivals Filipinos pa rin, mostly po from the Middle East ang nakikita natin na trends but nakakakita tayo ng uptick arrivals from the United States, Japan, and Korea,” she added.

(Majority of passenger arrivals were Filipinos, mostly from the Middle East. We also see an uptick in arrivals from the United States, Japan, and Korea.)

The Philippines reopened its borders to travelers from all countries, including from visa countries, starting April 1.

On February 10, the country started accepting business and leisure travelers from 157 visa-free countries for the first time in two years since the pandemic began.

Only fully-vaccinated foreign tourists from visa-free countries are allowed entry. They should also present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test result taken 48 hours prior to their trip. —LBG, GMA News