The hopes of a speedy tourism industry recovery get a huge shot in the arm following the start of the vaccine rollout for tourism frontline workers in the province.
On Friday, June 18, 2021, the provincial government of Bohol (PGBh) started the vaccine rollout of tourism industry frontline workers in the hope that the tourism industry bounces back and returns to its normal self.
According to Gov. Arthur Yap, about 70% of Bohol’s economy is hinged on the services sector, mostly in the tourism industry. Thus, Bohol’s economy took a nosedive after the Coronavirus disease (Covid) pandemic caused travel bans that shunned the tourists away.
According to a report by the Provincial Information and Media Relations (PRIMER) office, tourism stakeholders and industry players are banking their hopes on the vaccine as the key factor that would eventually pave the way for the full reopening of the tourism sector here.
In order to open the tourism sector, a “green zone” must be created where all of the people living in the so-called zone are already vaccinated. This, in turn, would create confidence among visitors who would think that they are travelling to a place that is safe and away from the threats of Covid infection, the governor explained.
In the tourism recovery plan of Bohol, Panglao Island is seen at the core of the strategy.
Meanwhile, Lawyer Lucas Nunag, Jr., chairman of the Provincial Tourism Council (PTC), cited Yap for his idea to use Panglao island as the template for the gradual opening of the tourism industry of the province in the new normal.
As this developed, Yap thanked the national authorities for allowing Bohol to be the first in the country to vaccinate its tourism frontline workers.
The governor specifically thanked Department of Tourism (DOT) Sec. Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr. and Sec. Vince Dizon of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go for making the vaccine rollout for tourism frontline workers a reality, during the press conference on June 16, 2021 at the Bohol Panglao International Airport (BPIA).
On June 16, 2021, Yap with other provincial officials received from the national government the 5,000 doses of Sputnik V and 5,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines.
Industry sources told the PRIMER, that around 7,000 frontline workers from accredited tourism operators will be vaccinated.
Although , the vaccine rollout could be extended to other tourism-industry workers, the PRIMER in its report adds.
QUICK VACCINE ROLLOUT
The governor himself witnessed the tourism frontliners’ vaccination rollout at the Bellevue Resort in Panglao on Friday, June 18, 2021.
The rollout, the PRIMER report said, is a step towards gaining the confidence of the visitors to come and visit Bohol.
Yap and Nunag were in the June 16, 2021 press conference at the airport together with Provincial Administrator Kathyrin Fe Pioquinto; Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez who is the officer-in-charge of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) and spokesperson of the Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force ((BIATF); Engr. Albert Uy, president of the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI); and Angie Hoffman, president of the Panglao Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), among others.
Moreover, Uy said that initially about 2,000 vaccine doses will be coming from the national Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry to be administered for other essential workers in Bohol.
EXTENDING HELP
The governor agreed to Mayor John Geesnell Yap II’s request for additional vaccine supply for senior citizens, said PHO’s Lopez.
Bohol’s capital and most populated locality got additional 5,000 doses of vaccine from the supply received by the province on June 16, 2021, Lopez said.
GREEN ZONE IDEA EXPLORED
Pursuant to the green zone concept, a good percentage of the population of Panglao island, which includes Panglao and Dauis towns, will get jabs in an attempt to attain herd immunity at least on the island, according to the PRIMER.
The strategy, also called the green lane, includes the vaccination of tourism frontline workers in accredited establishments and sites outside Panglao island, PRIMER’s report reveals.
The workers of DOT and Ultimate Bohol Experience (UBE) seal-accredited establishments will be prioritized in the vaccine rollout, according to the governor.
Nunag, for his part said that the green zone was proposed by the governor during a virtual tourism forum in May 2021 for Panglao island to provide a template for the gradual reopening of the tourism industry just like what Thailand is doing in Phuket and what Indonesia did in Bali, both of which are top tourist destinations in the world.
The forum was attended by top DOT and IATF officials, airline executives, and Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion who agree with Yap regarding the concept of a “bakuna card”, which could be used as a pass for fully-immunized locals and visitors who may no longer be required to undergo real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests prior to arrival in the province, the PRIMER report emphasized.
With the green zone concept, Nunag said Panglao and the rest of Bohol can safely welcome vaccinated guests from selected foreign countries.
This will be the start here of what Yap calls as Asian regional tourism bubble, which will involve Bohol.
Nunag said they are encouraged by the support that the green zone idea received from the DOT secretary and executives of the airline companies like Philippine Airlines’ Chief Operating Officer Gilbert Santamaria who advocated the same green zone concept of the governor.
“We realized that getting the relevant authorities to approve and implement this bold concept will not be easy considering the varied challenges that the pandemic presents, including vaccine supply, priority issues and sensitive considerations,” Santamaria said in another Bohol tourism forum on June 15, 2021.
Nunag said the players in the tourism private sector are enthusiastic about the conversion of Panglao island as a green zone.
The PTC chairman expressed optimism that the green zone “has a reasonable chance of achieving a significant win, a success story that will inspire and provide some hope for our battered and depressed tourism industry.”
He said the PTC, BCCI, PCCI and Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants (BAHRR) are committed to intensify their vaccine acceptance campaign. (with reports from Ven rebo Arigo)