‘Bubble tourism’ will be new norm in Philippines amid pandemic —stakeholders

Wanderlust in the Philippines amid the pandemic may be satisfied by "bubble tourism" or limited travels between safe zones, according to the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) on Friday.

During a Senate hearing, Senator Francis Tolentino raised that this has been practiced by New Zealand and Australia. He asked if the same can be expected in the country to resuscitate the tourism industry.

"Halimbawa kami sa Cavite, kami-kami na lang ang mag-iikutan doon sa Cavite. Ganoon ba ang nakikita mo? 'Yung mga taga-Kawit pupunta sa Tagaytay, 'yung taga-Alfonso pupunta sa Imus," Tolentino said.

"That (bubble tourism) was intended to restart tourism gradually as we look at the statistics of the infections... Bubble travel, for now, will be the norm as we gradually ease back into travel and tourism," TCP president Jose Clemente III said in response.

He cited Boracay which recently reopened to tourists from the Western Visayas region only as the area was placed under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

"I think this is just a precautionary measure before we fully open tourism in certain destinations in the Philippines," Clemente said.

"Eventually, if our numbers become favorable, we are also looking at international [bubble tourism] depending on those markets that will accept our tourists going there, and if their numbers are also acceptable to the Philippine government," he added.

Clemente assured that all tourism establishments in areas with eased restrictions will have to go through a certification process—at zero administrative cost for the certificate—to ensure that they follow COVID-19 safety protocols.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said it is conducting virtual inspections for the accreditation process.

"We have been very active in accreditation, we have been doing virtual inspections with our accommodation establishments since we cannot do inspections personally or physically," Tourism Assistant Secretary Myra Paz Abubakar said.

"So far, all the regions have really been working hard to accredit most of our accommodation establishments. Even the ones that we used as quarantine facilities were given already provisional accreditation," she added.

Tourism establishments in MGCQ areas are allowed to resume operations, according to the DOT. —LDF, GMA News