DOT eyes faster tourism recovery with vaccine rollout

As of July 13, 2021, the Philippines has administered 13,196,282 vaccine doses, of which 3,526,342 are second doses. The figures are encouraging--a clear sign that the country is responding positively to the call for Filipinos to get vaccinated. 

The DOT has been at the forefront of efforts to fast track the inoculation of tourism workers all over the country. Its recommendation to include workers of the tourism industry in the A4 cluster was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF–EID).

“The vaccination of our tourism workers will mean a lot to the industry, and will pave the way for further reopening of tourism sites, facilitating the industry’s faster recovery.”, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said.

It has tapped the industry’s national associations to identify the tourism frontliners employed by establishments accredited by the DOT, and has been working with private stakeholders to support its vaccination plans for the industry.

The tourism sector has been the hardest hit by the pandemic, with many of its industry players being sidelined because of the lockdowns and absence of tourism activities in the country.

As of July 9, 2021, there is a total of 19,479 vaccinated tourism frontline workers, 10,310 of which are from Accommodation Establishments (composed of DOT-accredited and LGU-licensed hotels), and the remaining 9,169 are workers from other DOT-accredited Primary and Secondary Tourism Enterprises and other tourism-related enterprises.

In geographical terms, 32.76 percent are from the National Capital Region (NCR), followed by Region XI with 28.21 percent, Region VII with 27.79 percent and Region VI with 9.39 percent. 

It is a good sign that the tourism sector is responding positively, as it prepares all those involved in the industry to be fully vaccinated in preparation for the opening of the country to tourists in the near future.

Further, the Department said that the public-private partnership of industry stakeholders in Bohol, Davao and Boracay Island is speeding up vaccination efforts for the industry. 

As of July 8, some 4,940 workers in Bohol have been inoculated against COVID-19.

In Davao, 5,459 workers have received their first jabs (as of July 8).

Meanwhile, from July 7 to 9, 2021 vaccinated tourism workers in Boracay were already at 1,732, averaging more than 500 per day, which was the original daily estimate.

As the DOT responds to the need for vaccination, so, too, have the local tourists, with more people visiting tourist destinations as they become confident that the pandemic will soon be over and a bright future for the country can be seen.

“With more people getting inoculated through the government vaccination program, the DOT sees a bright outlook for the tourism industry’s recovery,” Puyat added. “The most important thing for us now is to maintain cooperation with our stakeholders so that we can continue responding to their needs.”

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