MANILA, Philippines — The Mactan Cebu International Airport will accept only 1,000 unvaccinated foreign travelers daily starting March 1.
Quoting Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority general manager Julius Neri, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the MCIAA decided on the daily passenger cap so as not to overwhelm quarantine hotels.
She said only a few unvaccinated travelers arrived at the Cebu airport recently.
Garcia issued an executive order on Feb. 9 allowing the entry of unvaccinated foreigners provided they present a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test taken 48 hours prior to arrival.
Foreigners will also be swabbed upon arrival and go on facility-based quarantine until the release of their second RT-PCR test on the fifth day.
Unvaccinated foreign tourists are also encouraged to get single-dose Janssen vaccine while in Cebu.
Garcia issued the EO in a bid to revive the ailing tourism industry in the province.
She said local government units in Cebu province are highly dependent on tourism.
“Though local tourists may help, they are not the backbone of the tourism industry. It’s our arrivals from Korea, Japan, China, the US. I read, I studied, I analyzed, I took into consideration all conditions on the ground,” Garcia said.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cebu was the second most preferred destination in the Philippines by foreign visitors after Boracay, according to the Department of Tourism.
DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said 1.4 million foreign tourists visited Cebu in 2019.
The MCIAA recorded up to 3.9 million foreign arrivals in the province from January to November in 2019.