THE Department of Tourism (DOT) has welcomed the ongoing streamlining of travel procedures and requirements imposed by local government units (LGUs), saying this will help in the revival of domestic tourism, making it accessible to everyone.
“The DOT has long been advocating for the simplification of travel requirements as this is critical in making domestic tourism work,” DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a statement.
A survey entitled “The Evolving Landscape of Domestic Tourism” showed that 81 percent of the respondents consider the varying LGU requirements as the factors that make travel most inconvenient.
The survey was conducted by the DOT from Nov. 28 to Dec. 30, 2020 in partnership with the Asian Institute of Management–Dr. Andrew L. Tan Center for Tourism and Guide to the Philippines. It surveyed 7,243 travelers across 78 provinces in the country and 108 tourism enterprises.
Among the common travel requirements asked by the LGUs are the medical certificate, other types of pre-travel or test-on-arrival Covid tests and quarantine.
At the destinations, some rules that need to be standardized are those that relate to RT-PCR for children/infants, rooming or capacity limits and age restrictions vis-à-vis inter- and intra-regional movement of domestic tourists.
The Cebu Provincial Government has already eased the travel restrictions for persons traveling to the province to engage in tourism-related activities.
Local tourists will only need to present a medical certificate issued within seven days before the travel date, proof of pre-booking at a resort or hotel establishment and to pass symptoms checking or screening at the point of departure and point of arrival.
Tourists bound for Cebu City, on the other hand, must submit a negative result for a swab test taken three days before travel, a travel itinerary, travel authority, a confirmed booking of accommodation in the city and a round-trip ticket or travel details.
“Streamlining entry requirements will make travelling in the new normal more convenient while also protecting the public’s safety and well-being. Furthermore, this will also help in preventing the entry of those who falsify documents by standardizing validation protocols,” Puyat said.
The DOT is now banking on domestic tourism to lift the industry that has hit rock bottom since last year, plunging 83.12 percent in tourism receipts to P81.40 billion from P482.16 billion in 2019. (KOC)