A resort operator urges the government to remove the restrictions for tourists coming to Bohol as a measure to help revive the tourism industry.
Dr. Henry Chuseuy said that restrictions are turning off tourists to come to some destinations such as Boracay. Chuseuy is the chairman of the Henann Group which owns the Hennan Resort in Alona Beach, Tawala in Panglao town.
He also said that the huge cost of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test prior to arrival is another reason our visitors are discouraged from engaging in tourism-related activities here in the province.
He said there are only 30 to 50 tourists arriving each day in Boracay and in Iloilo and this tourist count is almost zero.
Chuseuy gave his two (2) cents worth regarding the tourism revival and the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry stakeholders like him.
He gave his opinion during the national press and conference conducted by Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque at Hennan Resort on Oct. 28, 2020.
Cheusuy said he used to employ 1,200 personnel but due to the pandemic, the number of his employees dropped to a total of 60 persons.
He urged the people to be informed and to be smart enough to avoid getting infected by the Coronavirus disease (Covid) as a means to help revive the tourism industry.
He added that aside from the cost, tourists are turned off because of the inconvenience of going to a medical facility to get tested.
His suggestion is to allow tourists coming to areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) to enter another area under MGCQ like Bohol without the need for testing.
Without restrictions means more visitors getting encouraged to visit places like Bohol.
Without tourists, he said, it would be difficult to revive the tourism sector and employ people.
The provincial government has planned to reopen the tourism sector to meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) – activities as a way to revive the tourism industry here.
It has been touted that MICE events are easier to manage as the authorities are going to be interacting with a few people unlike allowing a huge number of individual tourists to come.
The idea is to open the tourism sector by Nov. 15, 2020 and it will be a bubble within a bubble with Panglao town opening to MICE events.
The provincial government has instituted protocols that include the requirement of PCR tests for tourists prior to arrival here in the province.
The protocol requires persons who want to visit Bohol to have a PCR test result dated 48 to 72 hours prior to the visit.
The visitor stays within the bubble, which is initially identified as within Panglao town.
On the other hand, those who want to stay for more than five (5) days would undergo quarantine and would be subjected to PCR test on the fifth day.
Meanwhile, Roque recognized the use of technology as a means to improve contact tracing.
He displayed Bohol’s contact tracing card and system as a means to safeguard the health of the local folks at the same time provide an opportunity to open up the tourism sector.
The card makes it easier for contact tracers to do their job as visitors’ movements are tracked so that the close contacts can be identified, isolated and tested.