THE domestic market will lead the recovery of the tourism industry.

This was what Alexander Lao, chief commercial officer of Cebu Pacific (CEB), said as the airline continues to operate domestic routes despite the pandemic.

At present, CEB is operating in 32 domestic routes with 14 operating flights to and from Cebu, with Manila to Cebu operating five times daily.

“Now that is still a far cry from our previous operations. We used to fly from Cebu to Manila maybe 15 to 16 times a day,” he said.

However, Lao emphasized the government’s efforts in securing vaccine supply to fight the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the bright spots towards the road to economic recovery.

Another bright spot is the gradual reopening of non-essential travel to popular tourist destinations like Cebu, Boracay, Siargao and Bohol subject to certain conditions but still once again improving traveler confidence.

Over five million domestic passengers flew with CEB in 2020 and over 500,000 domestic passengers in the first quarter of 2021.

Vaccine distribution