“WE’RE in good company.”
This was the response of Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) president Jose C. Clemente III to the latest pronouncement of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advising against travel to the Philippines due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases. “If you look at the other Level 3 countries on the CDC list, these include Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom … and yet people are still traveling there,” he said.
He expressed optimism this new travel advisory against the Philippines, as in those previously issued by the US government, “will have minimal effect on our tourist arrivals,” which had already reached 1.1 million from February 10 to August 7. “My fearless forecast is that we will probably be nearing 2 million [tourists] by yearend,” he stressed, judging by the continued increase in bookings by overseas clients.
“Personally, I don’t think [the advisory] will affect our bookings. It’s like they don’t care anymore about Covid, even if they have to quarantine. I am getting more bookings now from the Netherlands, who are probably on revenge travel mode, and Canada,” said Clemente, who is also president of the 50-year-old Rajah Tours Philippines.
He noted that the balikbayan (homecoming Filipinos) market continues to remain strong, and will keep being so, whether or not there is a CDC advisory. Data provided by the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed 400,007 overseas Filipinos arrived as tourists as of August 7, 2022. (See, “Tourist arrivals in PHL breach 1-M mark in 6 months,” in the BusinessMirror, August 15, 2022.)
‘High-risk’ group
The DOT has yet to issue a comment about the latest CDC travel advisory, which moves the Philippines, along with Russia and Nepal, to the Covid Level 3 “high risk” group. Along with most of Europe, the number of Level 3 countries number almost 130, or over half of the 235 countries monitored by the CDC for Covid infections.
“If you are not up to date with your Covid-19 vaccines, avoid travel to the Philippines,” said the CDC advisory on Tuesday. “Even if you are up to date with your Covid-19 vaccines, you may still be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19,” the agency added.
As of August 15, the Department of Health has reported 3,484 new Covid cases, with active cases reaching 38,982 nationwide. The positivity rate across to the country is now 14.8 percent.
Clemente said the CDC advisory is “understandable as the [agency] looks at the past 28 days’ pattern of infections, which have been rising. However, symptoms have been reported to be mild and we have had no reports of tourists contracting the virus so far.” He added, “We continue to observe health and safety protocols at our destinations to ensure the well-being of our visitors.”
In the last administration, the DOT pushed for the vaccination and ensuing boosterization against Covid of tourism workers, to ensure they and guests remain safe even while interacting with each other.