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DOT allows NCR Plus staycation, ‘P2P’ air travel


Staycations and point-to-point air travel are now allowed in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus area - Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite - which is currently under general community quarantine (GCQ), a top official of the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Friday.

“Dito sa (here in) NCR Plus, while we are under GCQ with heightened alert, pwede po ang staycation at meron po tayong 13 hotel dito sa NCR with a total room capacity of 5,986 na nakapag comply sa requirements ng DOT (staycation is allowed and we have 13 hotels in NCR with a total room capacity of 5,986 which have complied to DOT’s requirements),” Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon said in an interview on state-run PTV’s Laging Handa briefing.

“Nakakuha na sila ng certificate of authority to operate for staycation [They secured certificates of authority to operate for staycation],” Bengzon said.

The 13 hotels in NCR allowed to operate for staycations are:

  • Okada Manila Hotel
  • Shangri-la at the Forts
  • Grand Hyatt Hotel
  • Joy Nostalg Hotel & Suites Manila
  • Nobu Hotel
  • EDSA Shangri-la Manila
  • Hyatt Regency and
  • Nuwa Hotel of City of Dreams
  • Solaire Resort
  • The Peninsula Manila
  • Aruga by Rockwell
  • Hilton Manila, and
  • Sheraton Manila Hotel

The NCR Plus is under GCQ "with heightened restrictions" from May 15 until May 31, 2021.

Apart from staycations, the Tourism official said that also allowed are point-to-point (P2P) leisure air travel in and out of the NCR Plus to accommodations which secured a certificate of authority to operate for point-to-point travel from the DOT, meaning this can only be availed through a chartered flight.

“The concept is you have a ‘bubble’ from NCR Plus to the destination. The accommodation establishment, whether a hotel or resort, needs to secure a certificate of authority to operate for point-to-point travel from the nearest DOT regional office,” Bengzon said.

The Tourism official said that allowing staycations and P2P air travel will help the tourism industry to recover.

He added that residents in NCR Plus aged 18 to 65 years old are the only ones allowed to avail of staycations and P2P travel.

“Ang mahalaga dito ay matulungan ang ating tourism enterprises at saka displaced tourism workers para mapabilis ang recovery ng industry (The important thing is we help our tourism enterprises and displaced tourism workers to hasten the recover of the industry),” he said.

In 2020, the DOT official said that foreign tourism revenues plunged to about P82 billion from P482 billion in 2019. -MDM, GMA News

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