Hotels, resorts already preparing for influx of tourists

The Bureau of Immigration expects that the arrival of foreigners in the Philippines will gradually increase again following the removal of the color-coded list of countries that prohibit travel to the Philippines.

In return, fully vaccinated leisure travelers from countries with visa-free travel to the Philippines are now allowed to enter the Philippines.

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Overseas Filipinos who return to the country no longer have to quarantine the facility as before.

Some of the preparations of the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) are the ongoing seminars on Basic Occupational Safety and Health to the staff of the establishments.

This includes banning guests from leaving the rooms and stopping at laundry and daily housekeeping services.

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Ventilation guidelines are also being implemented in hotels in response to the airborne nature of the coronavirus.

This includes using doors, exhaust fans, and regular air cleaning.

The PHOA also ensured that the staff vaccination rate in its members’ establishments is almost 100%.

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But the group called on the government to increase the operating capacity or number of people who can check-in at hotels — something that can only be done at a lighter alert level.

Hotels, resorts already preparing for influx of tourists

According to the PHOA, the occupancy rate of its hotel members reached 85% in November and December when Metro Manila and some regions were downgraded to Alert Level 2.

But hotel occupancy dropped again to 60 to 65 percent in January as cases rose due to the Omicron variant and tightened again in some regions.

There was also a decrease in revenue at PHOA member restaurants due to reduced dining occupancy under Alert Level 3.

In addition to capacity, increasing the daily passenger quota at airports should also be studied if an increase in travelers is expected.

According to the Department of Tourism, the restrictions were eased based on the advice of health experts and not because the agency was reluctant.

But according to DoT Sec. Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, foreigners, may flock to the Philippines after another one to 2 months or maybe in June because many will still be planning to come here.

In preparation, the DoT will also talk to local governments, especially tourist attractions, to relax their rules on the admission of outsiders.

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