BY CALVIN CORDOVA
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CEBU CITY—The tourism industry in Oslob town, southern Cebu incurred at least P30 million in losses due to the community quarantine that the government imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (2019).
Whale watching tours made Oslob as one of the top tourist destinations in the province.
Mayor Jose Tumulak said the pandemic has affected the town so much that some projects that were supposed to be implemented next year will not push through.
“In our budget preparation for next year, we will cut cost because we are expecting that we will still not be able to recover,” said Tumulak.
Last year, Oslob earned around P100 million from its tourism industry.
Tumulak said that in four months that the community quarantine was enforced, the town lost P32 million to P35 million in revenues.
Now that Cebu is already Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), the provincial government is slowly opening tourism activities.
Tumulak said the town will implement precautionary measures once the whale watching tours resume probably next week.
“There will be no walk-in visitors. They have to book online,” Tumulak said.
“If you are going to line up, a one meter distance should be observed. You will go through thermal scanners. There will also be profiling and travel history will be history. A visitor will be checked is he is not feeling weak. Hand washing will also be required and there will also foot bath,” added Tumulak.
A 50 percent capacity will also be observed in tourist sites.
A uniform amount of P500 will be charged for every whale shark activity.
The Provincial Tourism Office and Department of Tourism are still working on the online booking portal for those who want to visit tourist destinations in the province. (Calvin D. Cordova)
