BACOLOD CITY — Hotels, restaurants, and other business establishments here were encouraged to offer incentives to fully vaccinated customers such as discounts and freebies to attract more people to get COVID-19 jabs.
It was one of the topics recently discussed during the virtual meeting of the Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF) chaired by Mayor Evelio Leonardia, and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), with members and officers of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Negros Occidental (HRANO).
Familiaran noted that giving incentives to patrons is only voluntary but encouraged.
In fact, some businesses here were already giving out incentives to fully vaccinated customers.
The task force also urged businesses to convince their personnel to get vaccinated, as the city is giving "vaccination seals” once their workforce is 100 percent fully vaccinated.
It will make clients feel safe when they dine in at restaurants or stay at local hotels knowing that all the staff who assist them are fully vaccinated, according to the EOC-TF.
EOC-TF Executive Director Em Ang said that hotels and restaurants are places where there is a high degree of interaction among guests and workers.
Thus, it requires attention to compliance with health and safety protocols, for the public to regain confidence in visiting and patronizing these establishments, she added.
For his part, Leonardia stressed that vaccination is “our way out” of the pandemic.
“We vaccinated a lot of people but it is hard to convince others,” the mayor said, stressing that fighting COVID-19 is everybody’s business.