Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is pushing for eased leisure travel protocols such as the lifting of age restrictions and shorter quarantine days for tourists who have been fully vaccinated.
According to Puyat, the DOT has already submitted a proposal to the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to eased age restrictions in outdoor tourist destinations starting in Intramuros.
"We already asked the IATF na magsimula muna tayo sa Intramuros (for us to begin in Intramuros). We have already submitted a proposal na sana yung above 65 na fully vaccinated mapayagan natin sa Intramuros (to allow fully vaccinated indidivudals aged 65 and above in Intramuros)," Puyat said in a press conference during the 2021 Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) in Subic.
"Fully vaccinated naman and we can even give a time slot just for them. In a few days, I will be getting the answer but I am positive na papayagan nila (that they will allow it)," she added.
Metro Manila is currently under Alert Level 4, the second highest classification in the new lockdown scheme, until September 30 to curb the spread of the virus and its variants.
While interzonal leisure travel has been allowed by the IATF for NCR residents, those who are below 18 and over 65 years old are still not permitted to leave their residences for leisure travel.
However, Puyat emphasized that the continuous vaccine rollout around the world will help in the revival of the tourism industry and eventually restart the economy.
This was also the reason why the DOT is pushing for shorter or removal of the quarantine requirements even for foreign tourists upon arriving in the country once international travel resumed.
"We are proposing and continually pushing na wala na sanang quarantine days. as long as fully vaccinated na yung dumating at makikita naman nila na yung the ones they will be interacting with are also fully vaccinated," she said.
The tourism chief bared that 99 percent of workers in Metro Manila hotels have already completed their jabs, while 95 percent of the entire tourism frontliners in the region are fully vaccinated.
Puyat added that they are now pushing to fully vaccinate all tourism workers by the end of the year for them to be allowed to accept tourists without quarantine.
The DOT secretary said they are also looking at the recently-opened "Phuket Sandbox" model where vaccinated tourists from low-risk countries may enter the island quarantine-free, but they have to stay there for 14 days before entering mainland Thailand and its other destinations.
"We are actively vaccinating all tourism workers in the destinations because if tourist destinations are vaccinated, they can also accept fully vaccinated individuals," she said.
"Ss more and more people are vaccinated, then we can really restart the economy," Puyat added.