OVER 15,000 tourism workers in several destinations in the country have already been inoculated with a first dose or have received two doses of vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
This developed as more Covid-19 vaccines were sent over the weekend to Boracay Island, the so-called crown jewel of Philippine tourism. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat told the BusinessMirror “10,000 doses of Sinovac arrived in Boracay [on Sunday]—3,000 doses are for the second dose of those who earlier received their jabs and 3,500 each for the first and second jabs of more workers.” The vaccination of A4 tourism workers on the island began on July 7.
She added, more private hotels and resorts are also donating vaccines for use of the island’s workers. These include the 5,000 doses earlier donated by Crimson Resorts of the Gotianun-led Filinvest Group; 5,000 doses from the Tan-led Megaworld Corp.; and 50 doses from the Chusuey-owned Henann Resorts.
DOT initiatives
IN the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) report to President Duterte for his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, the agency enumerated its efforts to jump-start the recovery of the tourism sector, such as the issuance of health and safety guidelines, including safety seals to DOT-accredited establishments; digitization of tourist registration and monitoring procedures; development of tourism circuits; identifying recipients for cash-for-work assistance and business recovery loans; and establishment of Green Lanes for returning Filipinos and overseas workers.
But, Romulo Puyat underscored, “To support all these initiatives, the DOT believes that the best way to ultimately restore the confidence both foreign and local travelers to visit our destinations is to ensure that the tourism workers in these areas are vaccinated.”
The DOT pushed for the inclusion of tourism workers as priority recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine. As of June 24, 2021, 7,015 tourism workers have already been inoculated. Since then, more have been inoculated in Boracay and Panglao Island.
Improving tourism via infra, biz loans
IN his Sona, Duterte cited the completion of the Poro Point Freeport Zone Road in La Union, “to improve access to prime spots for investments and tourism in the Poro Point area.”
He also mentioned the release of some “P2.9 billion worth of loans to over 12,000 enterprises, including our displaced OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] and enterprises in the tourism sector to help them start or sustain their businesses amid the pandemic,” under the Bayanihan 2 law.
In its report to the President, the DOT said recovery of the tourism sector is anchored on the domestic travel. “As such, the DOT has been assisting the safe and gradual reopening of select destinations [Baguio City, Bohol, Coron, El Nido, and Siargao], that were assessed for their readiness to receive tourists amid the pandemic.”
Among the agency’s other initiatives include:
• Issuing 18 Health and Safety Guidelines for accommodation establishments, restaurants, meetings, investment, conferences and exhibition (MICE) organizers and venues/facilities, travel and tour agencies, and tour guides;
• Granting 104 Safe Travel Stamps to DOT-accredited facilities, and two destinations that are compliant with the World Travel and Tourism Council Safe Travels Stamp criteria and requirements, of which the Philippines itself is a recipient;
• Releasing 154 Safety Seal Certificates to DOT-accredited tourism establishments for their compliance with minimum public health standards, including the adoption of the StaySafe.ph app;
Price caps on Covid tests
The DOT also advocated for price caps on RT-PCR tests, spending some P25.17 million to subsidize such tests for about 45,000 qualified domestic tourists.
It also funded the development of digital solutions for contactless tourist registration, monitoring, and transactions, such as the Visita app for several provinces.
The DOT is developing 57 tourism circuits based on new travel preferences, that will also aid local governments in tourism planning and development, and ensure resiliency of travel.
With the Department of Labor and Employment, the DOT helped 651,839 tourism workers receive financial aid of P5,000 each under the Bayanihan 2.
It, likewise, encouraged “phased” Green Lanes to facilitate the entry of fully vaccinated returning overseas Filipinos and overseas contract workers for them to come home and visit their families here in the country more conveniently.