{"id":278262,"date":"2020-12-10T19:41:51","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T00:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=278262"},"modified":"2020-12-10T19:41:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T00:41:51","slug":"bohol-formally-opens-to-travelers-starting-dec-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/12\/10\/bohol-formally-opens-to-travelers-starting-dec-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Bohol formally opens to travelers starting Dec. 15"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The reopening for general tourists came weeks after Bohol started allowing groups to hold their MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) events in the island province. (File photo: Brett Andrei Martin\/Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Bohol province will finally welcome individual tourists starting Dec. 15, including those from areas under general community quarantine (GCQ), Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Saying Christmas is just around the corner, Puyat welcomed the development.<\/p>\n

During a virtual press briefing, Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap said senior citizens and minors alike would also be allowed to visit the island.<\/p>\n

The reopening for general tourists came weeks after Bohol started allowing groups to hold their MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) events in the island province.<\/p>\n

But aside from granting travelers their much-needed rest and recreation after months of being cooped up at home, Romulo-Puyat said this move would also revive the once-thriving tourism industry on the island and help displaced tourism workers regain their jobs.<\/p>\n

“Tourism comprises 70 percent of the livelihood of Bohol and we are here because we want to revive tourism, we want to restart tourism,\u00a0gusto nating ibalik ‘yong trabaho<\/em>\u00a0(we want to bring back the jobs),” she said.<\/p>\n

“It just goes to prove that tourism is really everybody’s business\u00a0at importante talaga siya sa ekonomiya<\/em>\u00a0(it’s important to our economy),” she noted.<\/p>\n

For Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA), Bohol’s reopening next week could be a “good template” of what has been often referred to as jumpstarting tourism amid the pandemic.<\/p>\n

“I think this is a good start… I think at this point, Bohol is very much ready,” he said during the presser.<\/p>\n

‘Preparing for the trip’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike in the pre-pandemic times when you could easily arrange your trip and fly, everything must be pre-booked in Bohol, including hotels, transportation, and tours, starting Dec. 15.<\/p>\n

“Kailangan<\/em>\u00a0pre-booked\u00a0kasi<\/em>\u00a0(safety)\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0point\u00a0natin dito<\/em>\u00a0as we reopen,\u00a0hindi puwedeng<\/em>\u00a0do-it-yourself you have to go through DOT (Department of Tourism)-accredited establishments and tour operators (Everything needs to be pre-booked here because that’s the point of the reopening, DIYs are not allowed, you have to go through DOT-accredited establishments and tour operators),” Yap said.<\/p>\n

The visitor must register via Bohol’s website and be given the “acceptance” to enter the island. He\/she will then be given a unique QR code to be used while touring Bohol.<\/p>\n

Upon entry, visitors must submit a negative RT-PCR result taken 72 hours before departure from other provinces.<\/p>\n

Yap said tourists won’t have much to worry about when it comes to rates as it remained relatively affordable even after the Covid-19 hit, with some establishments even slashing about 50 percent off.<\/p>\n

“The rates have been very much affordable and friendly, some are even going less than 50 off just to attract visitors so I would not worry about the rates,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Bohol province will finally welcome individual tourists starting Dec. 15, including those from areas under general community quarantine (GCQ), …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":278263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-travel","mauthors-joyce-ann-l-rocamora","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278264,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278262\/revisions\/278264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}