Philippines Poised to Capitalize on Relaxed Travel Restrictions
Philippines
By: Gerelyn Terzo of Sharemoney
The Philippines is eager for foreign tourists to return to the Southeast Asian country. With the number of COVID infections getting under control, the country is wanting to roll out the welcome mat for visitors and waive quarantine requirements. While the regulatory wheels turn slowly, the Philippines is looking to get back in the game and catch up to its neighboring countries.
The Philippines has been slow to relax its travel restrictions as it has been stuck fighting a surge in COVID cases. Thailand and Indonesia have already reopened to visitors, while Malaysia and Singapore are close to eliminating quarantine requirements for travelers who are completely vaccinated. Meanwhile, the Philippines was implementing lockdowns as recently as August 2021 after rising delta variant cases.
For its part, the Philippines is dependent on tourism revenue for a significant slice of its GDP. And after the fallout from the pandemic cut deeply into that, the country is eager to return to its former glory as a travel destination.
Exploratory Glory YouTube Video
Philippines
Joey Concepcion, the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, is leading the charge to see the country’s borders reopened. He has been behind a push to increase the vaccination rate as the Philippines looks ahead to a better 2022. Concepcion says the country has set a target to have 70% of its population vaccinated to strengthen the employment situation.
He is urging the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to remove the quarantine requirement for travelers from North America to the Philippines, which will encourage people who want to reconnect with their families to visit. He is cited by PhilStar as saying,
“Our Kababayans want to come back and reunite with their loved ones.”
According to him, quarantine requirements are the biggest deterrent for travelers looking to visit. As it stands, U.S. and Canadian travelers must undergo a COVID-19 test after spending five days in quarantine at a facility. Concepcion believes it would help to have them tested prior to arriving in the Philippines and then once again upon returning home.
Philippines
Filipino officials have the wheels in motion for foreign tourists and they’ve got the ball rolling by urging domestic travel within the country. In the Manila region, the hotel model was revamped to be more technology-centric and up to snuff with COVID protocols. Domestic travel is also an important part of the country’s tourism sector, and so officials looked to local travelers in pursuit of a staycation to set an example and jumpstart the economy.
The country has had some success with this push so far as Manila citizens have begun to venture out to popular tourist locations thanks to the easing of restrictions and a rising vaccine success rate. With the number of COVID infections now on the decline since October, the Philippines is reopening its borders slowly but surely to international travelers after close to two years of lockdowns and closed borders.
Philippines
Strategic Steps
The Philippines is now taking steps to prepare for stronger travel demand. Among them, the country is looking to South Korea, and its leading tourism market, to establish a ‘travel bubble’ of sorts, according to a report in Bloomberg. The two countries are still hammering out the details for any quarantine demands in both countries, with Philippine officials pushing to relax the quarantine requirements for residents.
The country is also facing a pilot shortage due to the fallout from the pandemic when working pilots were either laid off or furloughed during the crisis. One flight school, in particular, Alpha Aviation Group, has sought to fill the pilot gap. The business is off to a slow start, with only 100 students having been enrolled as of November 2021, a far cry from the pre-pandemic level of about 300 sign-ups. Alpha Aviation remains hopeful that it will continue to attract potential pilots. Its location in the Pampanga province is running its flight simulators around the clock to prepare students for the real deal.
Meanwhile, low-cost airline Cebu Air has gone on a hiring spree to meet the expected surge in travelers now that restrictions are poised to ease. The company is focused on expanding its cabin crew and has urged former staff members to go through the application process.
Philippines
Tourism Landscape
The Philippines boasts picturesque beaches with clear blue waters and white sand like White Beach in Boracay and Palawan’s Long Beach and Nacpan Beach, to name a few. Some of these beaches have already been accessible to local tourists, as well as popular diving locations such as Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in the Sulu Sea, and Anilao on the island of Luzon, among others.
The Philippines was recently named the leading beach destination in Asia for 2021 by the World Travel Awards, the fifth time it has received this recognition. It might not be the first time the Philippines has earned this title, but tourism officials say this year’s award means even more in light of the post-pandemic recovery. Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat expects this designation will keep the Philippines “a top-of-mind destination for foreign tourists.”
Philippine Economy
The economy of the Philippines is growing again in 2021, even if the pace of expansion has slowed. In
the third quarter, GDP increased at a rate of 7.1% year-over-year. The results surpassed economist expectations for a 4.8% increase but trail growth of more than 12% in Q2. All told, the Philippines is expected to reach its 2021 GDP expansion target of 4-5%.
The country is facing an unemployment rate of 8.9% as of September 2021, its worst level in eight months. The rise in unemployment comes as the government was forced to reinstate lockdown measures in the late summer of this year to combat the spread of the delta variant.
The Philippines anticipates that reviving its tourism sector will bolster the economy as travelers flock to restaurants and hotels once again. This demand will pave the way for more jobs to be added right in time for the holiday season. Small and medium-sized businesses in the country are banking on the booming tourism industry to be able to afford those employees. With a presidential election scheduled for May 2022, government officials have a great deal riding on a stronger economy fueled by tourism.
Philippines
