Senator Grace Poe has urged the Department of Tourism (DOT) to ensure that health facilities are within standard in tourist destinations to make travelers feel safe and confident.

“In all areas in our country, ideally, there should really be basic health facilities that can address the needs of the people. We've heard stories of tourists going to certain areas where the local health center is not equipped to treat certain emergency situations,” Poe said during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Tourism hearing Tuesday, Oct. 12.

“The new normal requires us to weave pandemic health protocols into all aspects of the economy in the years to come, so health facilities are an integral part of tourism now more than ever,” she added.

Poe underscored that the country's tourism sector "is one of the pillars that held the economy up before the pandemic."

"With more of the population getting vaccinated, we can expect more mobility and domestic travel that will enable provinces to begin with their economic recovery,” she noted.

Citing government data, Poe said the tourism industry in 2019 contributed P2.5 trillion to the economy.

The pandemic and resulting closure of resorts and hotels and travel restrictions caused a reduction in its value by 61 percent, to P973.3 billion by the end of 2020.

Likewise, Poe said data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that Filipinos spent P3.14 trillion in 2019 visiting local destinations but this plummeted to P556.89 billion last year.

Latest government report said that over 26.4 million individuals have been inoculated with their first dose of coronavirus vaccines while 23.1 million are now fully-vaccinated.

To spur economic activity, Poe earlier co-authored a bill that would allow the use of vaccination passport for international and domestic travels, ease of access to business establishments and public places.