Balikbayans pull up visitor arrivals in December

MANILA, Philippines — The entry of balikbayans boosted the number of visitor arrivals in December compared to previous months, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said.

“A slight increase in arrivals was observed in December, following IATF-EID Resolution 85 which allowed the entry of former Filipinos starting December in time for the holidays,” the DOT said in an inbound tourism update.

The DOT reported that the volume of visitor arrivals in December reached 19,793 – the highest monthly volume since the community quarantines were imposed.

While the entry of balikbayans including their foreign spouses and children was allowed in early December, this, however, was halted in the latter part of the month due to imposed travel bans amid the cases of the new COVID variants in some countries.

Balikbayans are now allowed to enter the country again based on IATF Resolution 97.

The resolution states that effective Feb. 1, foreign nationals will be re-allowed to enter under relevant IATF resolutions but subject to a number of conditions such as those with valid and existing visa at the time of entry, except for those qualified under the balikbayan program under RA 6768 and those with pre-booked accommodation for at least seven nights in an accredited quarantine hotel/facility.

Passengers are subject to COVID-19 testing at the quarantine hotel/facility on the sixth day from date of arrival and are also subject to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of entry.

“We are happy that the borders are open again to our balikbayans whose travel plans to rejoin their families in the country starting Dec. 7, 2020 were curtailed with the travel ban on passengers from the new COVID variant countries,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

“Now, they can replan their visits, notably as more local destinations have reopened,” she added.

In 2020, visitor arrivals to the country totaled to 1.48 million, 82.05 percent lower than the 8.26 arrivals in the previous year, based on arrival cards from the Department of Immigration (BI).

The figure is slightly higher than 1.3 million arrivals earlier estimated by the DOT.