THE TOURISM industry is on a gradual reopening as the Philippines eases lockdown policies and stakeholders are ready to sustain recovery with the vaccination of frontline workers, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.
“Vaccinating our tourism workers is the only way we can continue to sustain the recovery of domestic tourism, especially with the presence of a new virus variant,” Ms. Puyat said in a statement on Thursday.
She reported that as of Sept. 10 data from the department, 51.4% of the target 245,338 tourism workers nationwide have been fully inoculated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The capital region Metro Manila registered the highest coverage at 94%, followed by the Davao Region with 88% and the Cordillera Administrative Region with 80%.
“As we work to secure more vaccine doses… I am also encouraging our workers to submit themselves for vaccination especially with the presence of the Delta variant,” she said.
In Metro Manila, where the new granular lockdown system is being piloted, several tourism destinations reopened on Thursday.
These include Fort Santiago, Baluarte de San Diego, and Plaza San Luis, all within Intramuros, and Rizal Park. — MSJ