By Alec Go
The Department of Tourism (DOT) said there were over 80,000 visitors in Boracay in February as the country expects more tourists amid the opening of borders and easing of restrictions.
In the March 3 Laging Handa briefing, DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the recorded 80,882 tourist count in Boracay last month under Alert Level 2 is 77% of the 103,854 figures in 2020.
“Tuloy-tuloy na ang pagpunta ng ating mga turista sa ating mga tourist destinations,” she said, adding that the increase tourist arrivals is also observed in Baguio and Tagaytay.
The tourism chief said there were 47,715 tourist arrivals across the country from February 10 to 28 this year, of whom 45% are returning overseas Filipinos and 55% are foreign nationals.
The travelers are from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, and Germany.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted borders to shut down and closure of tourist destinations, around 1.1 million tourism workers of the total 5.7 million tourism staff in 2019 were affected.
With the de-escalation to Alert Level 1 or the country’s transition to the “new normal,” Puyat said tourism establishments have been rehiring displaced workers as more accommodation facilities reach “fully booked” status.
The DOT said local government units have discretion on whether or not to require contact tracing and health declaration forms, but health protocols remain in place, as well as the vaccination requirement.
The agency urged the public to get vaccinated for an “easier and seamless” travel, but clarified that some children are not required to present proof of vaccination.
“[B]elow a certain age hindi naman kailangan bakunado as long as kasama nila ang kanilang mga magulang lalo na iyong 5 years [old] and below,” she said.
“Pero, iyong mga eligible naman, for example 12 to 18 [years old], puwede naman magpabakuna, hinihingan na lang ng negative RT-PCR test,” she added. -rir
Watch the full interview here:
