Gov. Arthur Yap unravels the ways to allow the re-opening of the tourism industry with tourism sector representatives. A meeting for this purpose was held recently according to the information from Capitol media sent to The Bohol Tribune on Thursday, Sept.3, 2020.
The governor re-emphasized the need to cross two (2) thresholds before the tourism industry can be reopened.
The first threshold is to convince visitors that it is safe to visit Bohol.
The second threshold entails the need to convince the local residents that it is safe to accept visitors into Bohol.
The two (2) thresholds hinge on the ability of the province to test people for coronavirus disease (Covid):
Bohol has already two (2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratories that are able to process the swab samples of visitors into Bohol.
The next step involves an efficient system of contact tracing based on the national Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) rules and quarantine protocols.
During the last press briefing, on August 28, 2020, Yap said that the five-day quarantine then PCR test rule remains in effect. This means that after five (5) days a person under quarantine may opt to get a PCR test and may end the quarantine stay after getting a negative PCR test result.
On Monday, August 31, 2020, Yap presented the so called Bohol’s bubble in a dialogue with members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) tourism committee.
The PCCI tourism committee conducted a dialogue on the preparations of the local government units (LGU) on restarting the tourism industry.
Earlier, the governor pushed for the concept of a bubble within a travel bubble as an initial foray into the opening of the tourism industry here.
The concept calls for creating a travel bubble in Panglao where the airport is located and many resorts are based. The Bohol bubble in Panglao will focus on the tourism industry in Panglao first with plans of creating other bubbles in other areas of the province.