The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently issued the "Notice on Announcing the Safety Risk Level of Overseas Travel", which pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with relevant departments, conducted an annual assessment of the travel safety risks of countries around the world, and the travel safety risk levels were divided into four types: red, orange, yellow and blue.
It is understood that for countries and regions with a travel risk level of red, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds Chinese citizens not to go in the near future; for countries and regions with a travel risk level of orange, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds Chinese citizens to be cautious in the near future; for countries and regions with a travel risk level of yellow, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds local Chinese citizens to pay close attention to the local security situation, increase vigilance, strengthen precautions, and pay attention to safety; for countries and regions with a blue travel risk level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no relevant safety reminders.
The current travel risk rating in the Philippines is blue (low risk), with Mindanao being orange (high risk).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds Chinese citizens to travel cautiously to the Mindanao region of the Philippines in the near future, and that personnel and institutions on the ground are closely following the development of the situation, maintaining a high degree of vigilance, strengthening security precautions and emergency preparedness, and ensuring the safety of persons and property. In case of emergency, please call the police in time and get in touch with the Chinese embassy or consulate in your local area.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies and consulates abroad will continue to pay close attention to changes in the overseas security situation, dynamically adjust relevant risk assessments, and publish and update corresponding security reminders on platforms such as the China Consular Service Network in real time.
In addition, the Philippine Department of Tourism recently announced that since the reopening of the border in February, the number of foreign tourists entering the country has exceeded 300,000! From February 10 to April 25, a total of 319,047 foreign tourists entered the country!
As the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines eases, the government continues to push for a recovery in tourism. The Philippine Department of Tourism pointed out that the number of foreign tourists arriving in the Philippines increased significantly in April! May will be even better!
From February 10, the Philippines opened visa-free countries to short-term business travel or sightseeing. From 1 April, the country will be opened to all foreign travellers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Completely vaccinated persons are no longer required to quarantine after entering the Philippines.
The World Tourism Association (WTTC) Global Summit was held in Manila from 20 to 22 April. WTTC Ceo Simpson said that before the outbreak of the epidemic, the Philippine tourism industry value reached $93 billion in 2019, accounting for 22.5% of the Philippine GDP.
She said that in 2019, the output value of tourism tourism in the Philippines as a proportion of total economic output was twice the average figure of countries around the world. Therefore, for the Philippines, tourism is "absolutely essential"!
Simpson said that the Philippine tourism industry ranks fourth in the world in 2021 at the growth rate, and the growth base is mainly domestic tourism. The WTTC predicts that the Philippine tourism economy "has steadily embarked on a path of recovery."
Philippine Tourism Secretary Bouyat said that as more and more countries unblock international tourism, "we are already seeing signs of recovery.".
"I believe that in Asia, we have the least travel restrictions," she said. After arrival, passengers do not need to take inspections, do not need to isolate, and hope to simplify the process. As for when to return to the number of pre-pandemic passengers, of course I don't think it will return to the number of passengers in 2019 so soon, but at least, we are working in this direction. ”
During the 2022 Catholic "Holy Week" holiday, there was an influx of tourists from various attractions in the Philippines, and the tourist resort of Boracay Island exceeded 21,000 people for two consecutive days, exceeding the maximum number of 19,215 people that the island can carry. Tourist destinations such as Bohol and Palawan are also popular!
As Japan and South Korea relax the epidemic restrictions and reopen their doors, it is believed that more tourists will rush to the Philippines. It is reported that south Korea's direct flight to Bohol charter flights will resume navigation, let us look forward to more good news!