Gov. Arthur Yap and members of the Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants (BAHRR) explore the idea of “travel bubbles” as a way to restart the local tourism industry severely impacted by the lockdowns.
This is in relation to the response of the government to control the spread of the virus causing coronavirus disease (Covid).
The governor and BAHRR met on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 to discuss the so-called “Bohol bubbles” as the Department of Tourism (DOT) considers these (travel bubbles) as initial measures to restart the tourism sector.
The DOT is reportedly impressed with the way Bohol is able to control the Covid situation and considers the province as a candidate for travel bubble destination.
In travel bubbles- -also known as travel corridors or corona corridors, “countries with low to zero Covid-19 cases or have successfully demonstrated capability in controlling the spread of Covid-19 within their respective borders” can enter into bilateral arrangements between each other to allow travelers “to enter each other’s borders” with minimal quarantine period.
On this, the governor wants to be certain that two (2) conditions shall be met first before engaging in travel bubbles. The governor said that it is important to convince visitors that Bohol is safe to visit and the locals are confident that the visitors are not going to bring the infection into the province.
For this reason, it is important that there is a robust system of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratories and contact tracing.
Yap earlier explained to DOT Sec. Bernadette Romulo-Puyat that while Bohol is interested in joining travel bubbles, safety of the local Bohol population is a key concern that should not be compromised.
The governor and BAHRR are finalizing the presentation about the travel bubbles in time for the slated visit of Puyat this coming Friday, July 31, 2020.
Puyat had earlier explained that in travel bubbles, “tourists from countries with low to zero Covid cases” will be allowed to visit the Philippines and they have to “fly directly to tourist hotspots with international airports”.