The Department of Tourism said it is preparing the reopening of Boracay and Bohol as soon as health protocols in the islands are in place and more flights are allowed.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Puyat the made the statement ahead of her scheduled visits to Boracay and Bohol this week to validate the health and safety conditions in the islands.
“As you all know, Boracay is zero COVID while Bohol has had two cases of returning residents, otherwise, very, very minimal infection. What is important now is that when a tourist goes to a place, the health protocol is there. It’s safe for the domestic tourists to go to that place, since COVID is not there. And eventually, we can open it to foreign tourists,” Puyat told participants of the Kapihan sa Maynila e-forum on Wednesday.
Puyat will visit Boracay on Thursday to determine if the Island is equipped with the necessary tools to keep tourists safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since Australia has very limited cases of COVID-19 cases, she also encouraged Australian travellers to go to Boracay directly via Kalibo Airport or straight to Bohol.
Puyat said Boracay and Bohol may be initially reopened to visitors from Australia which has low virus transmission. “We were just talking to our Australian partners last week. We were telling them that there’s an option for them flying from Australia, direct to let’s say, Bohol. There’s an international airport or direct to Kalibo also,” she said.
She said Clark airport is another option for travelers if they want to go to Palawan. “There are so many possibilities. We are pushing for that for now,” Puyat said.
Puyat said tourism establishments and accommodation facilities that would improve their systems could also benefit from tax incentives.
She said establishments that are upgrading services and facilities to digital platform, especially for contactless travel and hotel check-ins, may avail of the three-year income tax holiday and duty-free importation of capital equipment from the Board of Investments.
Puyat said the reopening of major island destinations would help bring back jobs. There are about 5.4 million direct and indirect workers employed in the local tourism sector.
“If there is one silver lining in this pandemic, it is the even stronger sense of bayanihan between the government, the private sector and our stakeholders, as we gear up to the new normal,” she said.