Tourism Congress seeks lifting of travel ban on Taiwan amid COVID-19 scare

The Tourism Congress of the Philippines is seeking the lifting of the travel ban on Taiwan, saying that the action was implemented hastily and would have grave consequences on Philippine tourism.

The group's president, Jojo Clemente, made the appeal during a public hearing on the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 disease on the Philippine economy.

“We are asking that the decision to impose a travel ban on Taiwan be overturned and flights from Taiwan be allowed to come in the Philippines. There are more infections in Singapore than Taiwan yet there is no travel ban in Singapore,” Clemente said.

Clemente also cited that in Boracay alone, cancellations on property bookings have already reached 40% to 60%, which translates to over P100 million worth of losses.

“The imposition of travel ban in Taiwan affected many passengers. The ban was set down without ample notice, making the country inefficient,” Clemente said.

In closing, Clemente said that the travel ban on Taiwan is worth reconsidering also because the government has already implemented measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the airports, while hotels have already implemented mandatory thermal scanning for guests and distributed hand sanitizers. — MDM, GMA News