Camiguin exec says tourism reopening to boost PH recovery

MAMBAJAO, Camiguin – The reopening of tourist sites in this island province will not only help the local economy but also contribute to the national government's recovery, the governor here said Monday.

During a speech, Camiguin Gov. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo said to achieve this goal, tourism workers must be protected first by inoculating them with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines before the island's reopening to tourists on October 25.

"We need to open because we don't want to be a burden to the national government, which is dealing with many borrowings (loans)," he said.

Romualdo welcomed here Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on her visit to the province to bring in additional 4,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Puyat said the provincial government has been consistent in its request for additional vaccines.

She also said that even though people are already vaccinated, observing public health protocols should still be followed.

"We should not only protect the tourists but the tourism workers as well," she said.

As of October 14, there are 3,071 vaccinated tourism workers in Camiguin out of the initial 4,614 target number of tourism workers.

Fifty-three tourism enterprises and groups in the province recorded a 66.56 percent vaccination rate among their tourism workers.

According to the Camiguin tourism office, enterprises are unable to achieve a 100 percent vaccination rate yet because the workers are still waiting for their schedules.

Bounce back

When the pandemic forced hotels and resorts here to temporarily close, local hotel worker Glenn Montalba had to work in Cagayan de Oro City.

However, when news about the reopening of the tourism sector in the province came out, he came back to help in the hotel's preparations.

Frank Mercado, general manager of the local Villa Paraiso Hotel and Resort, said with the reopening, he hopes that more tourists will arrive for them to recover from their losses.

During the pandemic, some of the resort's rooms were converted into isolation facilities.

Meanwhile, Romualdo said only those fully vaccinated can enter the province for tourists, and must comply with other requirements such as a negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction result or an antigen test result. (PNA)