Help tourism sector recover, Kuya Bong urges
The tourism sector, one of the hardest-hit since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March, can recover with government support and increased budget.
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go supported the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of Tourism (DoT) and its attached agencies during the budget hearing conducted by Finance Committee on Monday.
DoT’s P4.9-billion proposal was reduced to P3.8 billion under the National Expenditure Program.
Go called for best efforts to increase the department’s budget but asked concerned bodies to ensure the proper use of appropriated funds.
He noted that the imposition of travel restrictions and other health and safety protocols greatly hindered the ability of the DoT to perform its mandate of promoting and developing tourism as a major socio-economic activity to generate income and employment.
He went on to praise the DoT for taking part in various government efforts to combat the pandemic despite the challenges.
DoT organized sweeper or commercial recovery flights to help transport locally stranded tourists back to the country and their provinces; aided in coordinating planning efforts with embassies, national agencies and local government units; as well as arranged land and sea transportation, providing meals and accommodation arrangements for stranded individuals.
“I commend and thank you for these initiatives. I witnessed those,” he said.
DoT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is similarly confident tourism will recover. For starters, the Ridge and Reef Travel Corridor initiative has enabled seamless travel to BLUPISIN (Baguio City, La Union, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte).
“The combined initiatives under the
Ridge and Reef Travel Corridor have shown that through close collaboration between local and national government units and the private sector, we can slowly piece the tourism industry back together and make it more capable of thriving in the new normal,” she said.
The reopening of Ilocos Norte to Luzon tourists on 15 October now include visitors from general community quarantine areas, the second phase of the Corridor plan.
The first phase was the Intra-Corridor travel between Baguio City and BLUPISIN on 1 October.
A total of 199 accommodation and tourism establishments in Ilocos Norte received Certificates of Authority to Operate after complying with health and safety guidelines.
The Tourism Promotions Board will develop a Region 1 Visitor Management System and Online Application, similar to Baguio’s Visitor Information and Travel Assistance platform.
“Using this digital multi-platform, the region can easily monitor visitor influx and mobility, as well as to conduct fast and efficient contact tracing when the need arises,” Puyat said. “As data is expected to build up in the system through years of use, it also holds the potential to become a reliable source of visitor arrival data for the region.”