The Department of Tourism (DOT) has called on local government units (LGUs) to streamline entry requirements for leisure travelers to encourage more domestic tourists and help the industry bounce back amid the pandemic.
This, after the Department received numerous complaints on delayed processing of visitors' requirements, leading to missed flights and disrupted travel schedules, particularly from travelers applying for entry to the Municipality of Malay that covers the island of Boracay.
According to DOT, the processing of travel requirements for the entry of domestic tourists falls under the jurisdiction of the LGUs.
"The DOT has reached out to the concerned LGU and reiterated its position and appeal to streamline and simplify the travel requirements for visitors," it said.
" is a vital component in ensuring the recovery of the island’s tourism industry and workforce that have been severely affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," the DOT said.
The Department explained that it understands the challenges and restrictions that hamper the LGUs, but it noted the importance of timely facilitation of such requests imposed on the visitors by the local government.
The DOT added that the pace at which the industry can bounce back from its losses will be largely determined by the "policies that will be implemented by the national and local government, and the participation and cooperation of its tourism stakeholders and the traveling public."
The Malay Tourism Office said Boracay has registered 24,355 tourists from November 1 to 14 this year. Of these, more than half or 13,580 came from the National Capital Region.
The continuous increase in the number of tourists visiting Boracay came after the Aklan LGU decided to scrap the COVID-19 test requirement for fully vaccinated tourists starting Nov. 16.
Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores said leisure travelers who will visit the world-famous island just need to present a vaccination certificate from VaxCertPH website or an LGU-issued vaccination card with a verifiable QR code.
However, for those who have yet to complete their COVID-19 jabs and those who are still unvaccinated, a negative RT-PCR test result will be still required.
To encourage more local tourists to travel, many tourism destinations in the country have eased their travel requirements and also decided to waive the required RT-PCTR test.