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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ready for tourism’s reopening

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Ready for tourism’s reopeningOf course, we, the stakeholders of our local tourism industry, don’t want to fool ourselves by believing that the industry will bounce back very soon. We all know that this global standstill will keep us in a state of suspended animation for quite some time. We don’t even know when we can open our establishments.

Even when we transition to general community quarantine (GCQ), the Inter-Agency Task Force will still not allow us to open our doors to customers, and for a good reason. That deadly virus is still out there, wreaking havoc on our potential clients. So, we have accepted such uncertainty, but continue to hope for the best. 

Since every tourism professional is made up of sturdy stuff, we continue to be positive about our situation and prepare ourselves as if the tourism business would start tomorrow. Local travel agencies and tour operators are now preparing attractive and affordable tour packages to our local destinations because we know that the first step to our recovery is through domestic tourism. 

Ready for tourism’s reopening
The Radisson Blu in downtown Cebu City has put up an impressive safety protocol in prepation for the 'new normal' in the accommodation industry once establishments reopen. 

Local attractions are sprucing themselves up, in cooperation with the local government units where they are in. Tourist vehicles are now being reconfigured to maintain physical distancing. Hotels and resorts have embarked on several disinfection measures and have installed facilities to ensure the safety of guests and employees. 

The Radisson Hotel Group has put up a safety protocol, a new program of in-depth cleanliness and disinfection procedure that is very impressive and should be emulated by others in the accommodation industry. It has also partnered with SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing, and certification company.

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The hotel group’s safety and protection measures include hand sanitizing stations at all entrances, the use of personal protective equipment and protective screens, enhanced and recorded cleaning and disinfection frequency, social distancing in all areas of the hotel, including in the meeting and event facilities. 

It also includes training of employees in local Centers for Disease Control or World Health Organization recommendations and health guidelines. Comprehensive staff training for food safety standards has also been conducted. Disinfection guidelines are based on global hygiene protocol. All these new measures will be subjected to a local audit and onsite testing by SGS using the latest technology.

Even our airlines have implemented new measures to conform with health safety procedures. Philippine Airlines now requires passengers to wear face masks, bring their own hand sanitizers, and limit carry-on baggage to only two kilos, so passengers can easily lift the bags themselves, avoiding contact with anybody else. Their ticket offices conduct thermal scanning and social distancing, but online ticket purchase is encouraged.

At the lounge and inside the aircraft, staff will be wearing PPE, and food will be served in sterilized, sealed packs to conform with Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) procedures. High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are maintained regularly to protect passengers from respiratory diseases. 

Ready for tourism’s reopening
The Philippine Airlines looks forward to flying again. 

We can all see that when the wheels of tourism start grinding again, we will be ready to welcome our much-valued customers and ensure their safety. So, get ready to travel… soon. Meantime, stay home to stay safe. 

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com.

YOUR WEEKEND CHUCKLE

Do you realize that every time you clean something, you make something else dirty?

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