The Department of Tourism (DOT) has recognized the efforts of 24 local hotels that turned their rooms into quarantine facilities as a way to help in the country's fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"The DOT is grateful for the hotel industry’s continued support in repurposing their accommodations into quarantine facilities for local residents undergoing mandatory quarantine, returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and overseas Filipinos," the agency said in a statement on Tuesday, April 6.
According to the agency, 24 hotels in Metro Manila, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Calabarzon, and Davao Region have transformed a total of 2,442 of their guest rooms into isolation facilities.
The hotels are currently part of the "Oplan Kalinga" program.
Oplan Kalinga is a national government program aimed at giving accommodation to COVID-19 patients who do not have a place to isolate themselves. Launched in 2020, the program aims to reduce the risk of infections in the household and communities.
The department also said that many hotels in the country have served as temporary shelters for medical frontliners and business processing outsource (BPO) employees, among others, since the start of the pandemic last year.
The DOT also appealed to hotels, travel agencies, and airlines to assist tourists who made prior travel arrangements but were affected by the extension of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in "NCR-plus".
Primary and secondary tourism establishments within NCR-plus were likewise directed to comply with DOT Advisory No. 2 2021 on the extension of the effectivity of DOT Advisory 2021-01 titled, "Providing the Interim Operational Guidelines for Accommodation Establishments."
This, after the government opted to retain ECQ status in Metro Manila (National Capital Region), Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal--collectively known as NCR-plus--until April 11.
"The advisory continues to be in effect with the extension of ECQ for another week," it added.
The DOT also vowed to continue to support the national government's efforts in prioritizing the health and safety of travelers, tourism workers, and host communities in the light of the ECQ extension.