HOTELIERS are seeking permission to offer staycations soon to boost their revenues amid the continuing international travel restrictions on inbound tourists due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a Viber message, Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) Executive Director Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told the BusinessMirror, “We are hoping that the authorities will allow staycations in Metro Manila. The vaccination rate of workers in our hotels is around 90 percent to 95 percent.”
He added, “Our hotels strictly implement the required health and safety protocols to ensure the convenient and pleasurable stay of our guests. The staycation market will provide the much-needed revenue to sustain our operations.”
Per updated guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on the Alert Level System dated September 30, 2021, hotel staycations continue to be prohibited in the National Capital Region (NCR), which continues to be under Alert Level 4 until October 15, 2021.
Also banned from operating are indoor visitor or tourist attractions; indoor venues for meetings, incentives, conferences, events (MICE); as well as outdoor and indoor amusement parks or theme parks. Social events such as parties, wedding receptions, family reunions, etc., are also not permitted.
A bubble of fully vaxxed persons
Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Inc. (HSMA) President Benjamin Martinez added, hotel revenues are not just affected by the staycation ban, “but also for socials and events, as we can’t cater to them as well until we are on Alert Level 3.”
He expressed hope that staycations already be allowed in the NCR, at least for “vaccinated guests…and since tourism frontliners/stakeholders are already 98-percent vaccinated too, it’s almost like a bubble of fully vaccinated individuals. This should at least jumpstart our business and the economy.” Vaccinated guests only need to present their vaccination cards, he added, the same way restaurants do for indoor dining. “So why can’t we do the same regardless of Alert Level?”
The IATF has increased the dining capacities for food establishments for both indoor and outdoor dining. (See, “Turn down music, stop virus from spreading,” in the BusinessMirror, October 4, 2021.)
HSMA estimated their industry losses grew by 60-70 percent since Covid-19 cut international tourism arrivals.
Allow MICE, too
Tourism Congress of the Philippines President Jose C. Clemente III also supported allowing staycations in Metro Manila for vaccinated individuals, “provided they are not mixed with quarantine guests.” He added that MICE events should also be permitted for the vaccinated, “provided the capacity for in-person attendance is still limited for the meantime. This can be adjusted depending on how [reported Covid] cases progress.”
As of June 2021, the Department of Tourism approved multiple-use hotels—or quarantine hotels that are allowed to take in staycation guests but under strict regulations such as separate entrances, elevators, among others.
As of August 5, the Department of Tourism has approved 14 staycation hotels in NCR. These hotels include Aruga by Rockwell, Edsa Shangri-La Manila, Grand Hyatt Manila, Hilton Manila, Hyatt Regency-City of Dreams, Joy Nostalg Hotel & Suites, Nobu Hotel, Nuwa Hotel-COD, Okada Manila, Shangri-la at the Fort, Sheraton Manila, Solaire Resort and Casino, Peninsula Manila, and Hotel Okura.
The DOT has also approved 35 multiple-use hotels, which are quarantine hotels that are also allowed to accept business guests and participants in essential meetings and social meetings and social events, but under strict regulations such as separate entrances, elevators, among others.