Boracay to accept fully vaxxed tourists sans COVID-19 test soon — DOT

Tourists who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer need to present a negative swab test result upon entry to Boracay Island in a month’s time, the Department of Tourism said on Wednesday.

Interviewed on ANC, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said that Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores made the announcement on Friday.

“According to him, in a month’s time or maybe in three weeks’ time, he will already be accepting fully vaccinated in lieu of negative RT-PCR,” she said.

Puyat noted that fully vaccinated tourists will be allowed to visit the island by Christmas without presenting a negative COVID-19 test result.

She said Miraflores is just waiting for the island to reach 100% vaccination of its tourism workers and residents.

Around 91% of tourism workers of the island have been fully vaccinated, and 62% of residents. 

Currently, only fully vaccinated tourists from Aklan, Capiz, Antique, Iloilo and Guimaras are allowed to visit Boracay without a negative swab test result.

They only need to present a certification from VaxCertPH.

To reopen the tourism industry fully in the country, Puyat said the DOT targets to have 100% of tourism workers vaccinated before Christmas.

The department is also coordinating with other Asian countries to convince foreigners to tour the Philippines amid the pandemic.

According to Puyat, some of the countries require up to 21 days of quarantine upon arrival from the Philippines, which may affect the interest of foreigners to visit the country.

Also, the DOT is seeking to offer COVID-19 tests to tourists for free. Currently, the department’s partnership with the Philippine Children's Medical Center provides a discounted RT-PCR test at P750. —LBG, GMA News