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470 hotels able to operate during ECQ in NCR: DOT exec
MANILA – A total of 470 hotels were able to operate for select guests throughout the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila, a Department of Tourism (DOT) official said Thursday.
These accommodation establishments account for 56,871 rooms with at least 56 percent occupancy as of this writing.
“Sa kabuuan, if there (is) one thing in the tourism industry in Metro Manila, if there’s one sector that has survived and likewise assisted the government, it’s the hotel industry (In general, if there’s one thing in the tourism industry in Metro Manila, the hotel sector has survived and assisted the government),” DOT – National Capital Region Director Woodrow Maquiling said in a Laging Handa briefing.
Maquiling said most of the guests who checked in were repatriated Filipinos, business process outsourcing employees, and long-staying travelers.
In a presentation, he said the accreditation of accommodation establishments that volunteered to become quarantine facilities was part of the DOT’s tourism response and recovery plan.
Since the ECQ was imposed in the capital region, Maquiling said the DOT has assisted more than 30,000 stranded foreign and domestic tourists via sweeper and repatriation flights.