BY GENALYN KABILING
The government task force has further relaxed the restrictions in hotel operations in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ).
The IATF has revised the GCQ guidelines and allowed hotels or similar establishments to accommodate “markets of specialized programs of the Department of Tourism (DoT).”
The latest decision allowing hotels to host DoT-backed guests came after the government has eased the lockdown measures in a bid to revitalize the country’s sluggish economy and generate employment. The tourism industry is one of the sectors severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic as the government imposed travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the illness.
Previously, the government has allowed hotel operations in GCQ places that accommodate only six types of guests:
These are guests who have booking accommodations for foreigners as of 17 March 2020 for Luzon and 01 May 2020 for other areas; guests who have existing long-term bookings; distressed overseas Filipino workers and stranded Filipinos or foreign nationals; repatriated OFWs in compliance with approved quarantine protocols; non-OFWs who may be required to undergo mandatory facility-based quarantine; and healthcare workers and other employees from exempted establishments under these Omnibus Guidelines and applicable Memoranda from the Executive Secretary.
In GCQ areas like Metro Manila, the government has prohibited the operations of tourism activities as precaution against the coronavirus spread.
Tourism operations, on the other hand, are allowed to resume at half capacity in modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) areas but must be subject to the local government units’ rules and regulations as well as health protocols.(Genalyn Kabiling)
