TACLOBAN City - As Eastern Visayas embraces the new normal, San Juanico Cruises has resumed its operations in a bid to boost the tourism sector amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The San Juanico Cruises is a customized boat tour offered by Hero Travel Solutions that features the iconic San Juanico Bridge and other tourist attractions in Leyte and Samar provinces.
"We have to keep tourism in Tacloban alive, otherwise many people will be affected and will be added to the unemployed statistics," said tour operator Rhoel Ladera.
With its revival, new itineraries were developed to make domestic tourism more vibrant and interesting to domestic clients, of which will be the target market during the new normal since foreign travels into the country will be far from normal in the coming months.
They are the San Juanico Strait Cruise, Leyte Gulf Cruise, Marabut Cruise, Marabut adventure Cruise, and the Historical Cruise.
The exclusive tour allows groups to swim, dive, snorkel, and explore other wonders of nature and manmade attractions for a day. They also serve fresh Korean barbecue meals during the cruise, including the freshest catch of the islands such as the Panunubulon Island in Basey, Samar.
The final products were presented to the local government units (LGUs) concerned and the general public after a thorough market test to gauge their reception.
To ensure the health and safety of tourists, Department of Tourism (DOT-8) Regional Director Karen Tiopes likewise encouraged the public to travel as a safe bubble group.
A safe bubble is a group of individuals who belong to the same household or group, who are confirmed to be non-virus carriers and have the necessary health certification issued by the appropriate health agency.
"This way, there is no risk of contaminating each other since they belong to the same household who are COVID-19-free," Tiopes explained.