MANILA – To show that the Philippines is a safe place to visit despite the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) elsewhere, President Rodrigo Duterte will kick off his tour of the country’s top tourist spots in Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan on March 12.
This will be the President’s first visit to Boracay since the island reopened to tourists in October 2018, according to Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
Boracay was closed to tourists from April to October 2018 for six months of massive rehabilitation that Duterte himself ordered.
“March 12, inaanyayahan namin kayo. Pupunta si Presidente Duterte sa Boracay to show that it is safe,” said Puyat.
Prior to Boracay’s rehabilitation, Duterte likened the island to a cesspool.
Aside from stressing that Boracay has become environmentally sound, the presidential visit would also drive home the point that the island remains safe and free from COVID-19, according to Puyat.
Boracay is experiencing a dip in tourist arrivals due to the COVID-19 scare.
For several years now, the island’s top visitors are South Koreans. However, the government recently imposed a partial ban on tourists from the northern part of South Korea that has been hit by COVID-19.
Aside from Boracay, the President would also be visiting Bohol and Cebu, said Puyat.
The Philippines stands to lose an estimated of P42.9 billion in tourism receipts this first quarter of 2020 due to the COVID-19 scare.
Aside from South Korea, the Philippine government also imposed travel bans to mainland China and its special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong.
To counter the tourism industry slowdown, Puyat said DOT has allotted P6 billion for international and domestic tourism promotion and development.
One has already started – the campaign on popular video-sharing app TikTok where snippets of the country’s tourist spots are shown using the tag #gocreateph.
Discounts from airlines and hotels will also continue until April, said Puyat, and DOT will also push through with its travel trade shows to areas with fewer cases of COVID-19 such as Western Europe, Middle East, Russia and Indonesia./PN
I just visited Boracay this past weekend with my lovely Filipina wife to celebrate our 20 years of marriage. We had a great time. This was our third visit. The beach is now clean and the sunsets still beautiful. No worries, safe as can be. We walked around the beach for three days without any face masks. The beach isn’t as crowded and I encourage any locals or other expats that this is the time to visit Boracay. Only negative is that there are still vendors roaming the beach, although they are supposed to be banned. We couldn’t walk more than a few meters without someone trying to sell us cheap sunglasses, hats, or island hopping tours. All in all, however, a positive experience.