Maybe next year: Overseas travel nothing ‘but a dream’ at this time – Puyat

By JOHN CARLO M. CAHINHINAN

Those who are planning to visit other countries once the enhanced community quarantine policy (ECQ) is lifted may have to wait at least until next year, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

During a special virtual meeting of the House committee on tourism via Zoom, Puyat told members of the panel that “at this point in time, traveling (overseas) is but a dream.”

“International travel might not yet happen within the year,” said Puyat.

Puyat stressed that “at this point in time, (foreign) traveling is just but a dream” even if ECQ in key areas where major airports are located will be downgraded after May 15, considering the “pending the travel restrictions of other nations.”

Puyat stressed that around 75 million jobs will be globally affected by the pandemic brought by the COVID-19 disease—about 49-million jobs at risk within the Asia-Pacific Region based on the approximate figures released by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) earlier this month.

According to Puyat, foreign arrivals between January and March—before Luzon as well as other key cities and provinces were placed under ECQ—already dropped dramatically by 40.2 percent compare to the same period last year.

Revenues from foreign arrivals during the first quarter of 2020—when the COVID-19 pandemic has started to spread—also fell of by 40.62 percent or equivalent to about P54.5 billion in losses.

Romulo also noted that the “magnifying effect of ECQ is also felt by communities that are highly-dependent on tourism” such as the provinces of Cebu and Bohol as well as Boracay Island in Aklan.

Meanwhile Laguna Rep. Sol Araganes, chair of the House tourism panel urged Puyat and the rest in the Department of Tourism (DOT), as well as leaders in the Philippine hotel industry to come up with new standards and protocols that would allow them to resume operations while preventing the spread of highly contagious diseases like COVID-19.

“Our hotel industry should adapt to the new normal,” said Aragones.

She pointed out that numerous protocols need to be reviewed by the DOT and hotel industry representatives together with the Department of Health to determine how to best prevent outbreaks like COVID-19.

“They must review everything a hotel guest must go through, from check-in to check-out, to identify and address potential vulnerabilities and opportunities for virus transmission,” the lawmaker said.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)