The Tourism Department said that over 7,000 tourists have arrived in the Philippines since the country reopened its borders for foreign tourists on February 10.
The government has opened its borders allowing fully vaccinated tourists in the country since last week.
“I was quite surprised when we reopened Feb. 10, I thought that only a few would come. But then I was so surprised that a lot came,” Puyat told ABS-CBN News in an interview.
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“If you count the four days—from Thursday to Sunday—we’ve already had about 7,051 tourist arrivals but of course, 45 percent are balikbayans but balikbayans are considered tourists because they have foreign passports,” she added.
Puyat said that the foreign tourists were Canadians, Australians, British and Americans.
“We even have Japanese, Koreans. They already came as early as Feb. 10,” she added.
Puyat said that some of the reasons for visitors are personal or to help victims of recent typhoons.
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“A lot were to be reunited with their families. May asawa sila dito na Pilipina. Meron din nagsabi I want to build homes for the typhoon victims’,” Puyat added.
Puyat added that there’s another visitor who wanted to vlog their experience in the Philippines.
“I saw a family, with even a 5-year-old, from Bulgaria. They wanted to vlog because they’ve heard so much about the Philippines so they wanted to vlog. A lot were coming here because they’ve been wanting to come here for business,” she added.
