Visitors have their souvenir photos taken by the Gate of Fort Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — The walled city of Intramuros in Manila registered a total of 38,154 guests in February, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Thursday.
The agency said this is up by 132% from the 28,855 visitors recorded in January.
“The increase in visitors in Intramuros’ various sites reflects the optimism and confidence in travel,” Tourism Secretary and Intramuros Administration (IA)Chairperson Berna Romulo-Puyat said in a press release.
Puyat touted Intramuros as an “ideal site in the new normal,” taking note of its open space, lush gardens and strict implementation of health and safety protocols.
She also noted that under Alert Level 2, physical distancing, contact tracing, and the maximum number of visitors per site are strictly observed in the walled city.
Intramuros sites that are now open for visitors include:
Fort Santiago
-weekdays: 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
-weekends: 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Casa Manila Museum
-weekends only: 9 a.m. to 5 pm.
Baluarte de San Diego
-8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Intramuros was reopened to tourists in September last year even when Metro Manila was still under a modified enhanced community quarantine due to high occurrences of COVID-19 infections at the time.
In October, it opened its sites for morning exercises of individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and who are in the vulnerable population.