DOT's Puyat sees revived Philippine tourism with eased travel restrictions

The government’s decision allowing minors and fully vaccinated seniors to have point-to-point interzonal travel will revive the country’s tourism industry, DOT Secretary Bernadette Puyat said on Friday.

"Further easing of travel restrictions will allow more of our fully vaccinated individuals to enjoy interzonal travel, especially families who wish to travel together. Traveling is a way of bonding, and with all the precautions and protocols in place, we can still do it safely together,” Puyat said in a statement.

“More importantly, this will encourage more Filipinos to secure their jabs as well," she added.

Puyat said that the relaxed travel restrictions would cause tourism workers and stakeholders to get back their jobs and livelihood lost due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced on Friday that minors who are below 18 years old and those fully vaccinated individuals over 65 years old are now allowed to have point-to-point interzonal travel from the National Capital Region (NCR) to areas under general community quarantine and modified GCQ.

Roque, however, noted that the travel should be subjected to the guidelines and strict health protocols as may be prescribed by the tourism department and the regulations of the local government unit destination.

According to Puyat, the tourism department has yet to release guidelines for point-to-point travel to ensure that health and safety protocols are complied.

“RT-PCR tests will only be required for the said individuals should the LGU of destination require a negative result,” she added.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases' (IATF-EID) has decided to extend the pilot implementation of the Alert Level System in the NCR until October 15.

The easing of the interzonal travel came as the pilot rollout of the vaccination for minors aged 12 to 17 years old is set to start on October 15. -NB, GMA News