ANOTHER year, another Holy Week of scrapped vacations.
Sunday’s announcement of a lockdown in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces rear-ended the travel plans of cooped-up residents aching for the sea and the sun, and dashed hopes of hotels and resorts in key destinations of the country of a reversal in their fortunes.
Richard A., a public relations specialist, said he was looking forward to a work-cation (work + vacation) for 18 days in Boracay Island starting March 26. “Because our office is still implementing a work-from-home policy, this trip takes advantage of the opportunity to work remotely from another location.”
He said Boracay isn’t his usual choice for vacations, “but I was encouraged because of the safety protocols that Boracay has put in place.” After learning from the news that an “NCR-plus bubble” would be in place until Easter Sunday, Richard hurriedly rebooked his trip. “I was disappointed, but I understand why it had to be done. The rising number of infections is a serious matter and the restrictions will help mitigate the risk of having the new Covid variants spread to the regions,” he said.
Holy Week opportunities lost
Ging Salme, manager of the popular Jony’s Beach Resort in Boracay, also had high hopes for the Holy Week, considered one of the peak seasons on the island. “We were so happy because we were supposed to reopen the other hotel [Jony’s Boutique Hotel] because we were full here at the resort. Unfortunately, we started receiving cancellations for future bookings [as soon as the Malacañang announcement was made],” she said in Ilonggo.
But she added, the guests may rebook their vacations without penalties. “Since we reopened, we have free cancellations or rebookable stays because sometimes they have problems in their requirements, or because of flight cancellations.” Leeds Trompeta, general manager of the posh Amorita Resort in Panglao Island, had hoped this Holy Week would be good time for them to make back their lost revenues. Like most resorts last year, the initial lockdown, which also came before Holy Week, caused them massive losses due to refunds.
“We had forecasted an occupancy level of 60 percent for this Holy Week, but since 90 percent [of the guests] will be coming from Manila, we expect cancellations to start [today, Monday],” he said.
What’s worse, he added, with the better occupancy forecast, “We added more associates to prepare for the arrivals, which unfortunately, we will have to adjust based on the actual arrivals,” he added.
Leisure stays OK within bubble
Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat clarified that leisure tourism and staycations will be allowed “within the NCR-plus” bubble, although the age restrictions will be strictly followed.
She told the BusinessMirror, “Leisure travel outside the bubble is not allowed. But within the bubble, pwede. I clarified this with [IATF]. So they [NCR residents] can still go to Tagaytay, Laguna…”
As for staycations, there are 14 four- and five-star hotels in the NCR that are accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to offer staycations.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in its Resolution No. 104 dated March 20, 2021, reverted Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal to general community quarantine (GCQ) status, and grouped them with the NCR and the municipality of Pateros in a “bubble” as these had the highest recorded Covid cases in the country. As such non-essential travel is prohibited from and to said bubble from March 22 to April 4, 2021.
“Some of the economic managers and myself were pushing to have tests- before-travel so Holy Week vacations would still be able to push through. But our medical experts told us we would be risking spreading the virus to the provinces. In fact, some of the medical experts wanted a hard lockdown like an ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), because the numbers are really scary,” she explained while recalling discussions during Saturday’s emergency IATF meeting.
“We know that Holy Week is the period the hotels and resorts would be able to recoup their losses. But the risks were just too high, thus the leisure travel caution,” she added.
Fortunately, she said the hotel industry and airlines are allowing their clients to rebook their trips “without penalties.”