Hotels and other such establishments in Baguio City have been allowed to accept leisure travelers, at the city’s request and in apparent recognition of the contact tracing systems put in place by the summer capital, the President’s Spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. said Friday.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the city government’s request to allow its hotels and similar establishments to accept bookings for leisure travel, subject to the observance of health and contact-tracing protocols.
“The IATF granted the request of Baguio City for its hotels and other accommodation establishments to accommodate leisure travelers while under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) classification,” Mr. Roque said in a statement.
The task force placed the Cordillera region under the stricter form of quarantine after it recorded a spike in coronavirus cases, with its hospital bed occupancy nearing levels deemed to be moderate risk. A more contagious coronavirus strain was detected in the region last month.
“Given Baguio City’s visitor information, registration and contract tracing system and the assurance to undertake stricter measures to make it work, we objectively endorsed the request to the IATF for guidance,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Fatima T. Romulo-Puyat said in a statement Friday,
Ms. Rommulo-Puyat said Baguio City was authorized to accept domestic travelers “in recognition of its institutionalized protocols on registration.”
The city requires its visitors to have a Visitor Information and Travel Assistance (VISITA) account.
The Tourism department has been directed to come up with guidelines for the accommodation of guests for leisure and business in areas under various levels of community quarantine, she said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza