ILOILO City – The safety of citizens must be the first consideration of local government units (LGUs) in holding or canceling tourism events, stressed Director Helen Catalbas of the Department of Tourism in (DOT) Region 6, citing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threat.
She, however, made it clear that DOT-6 will respect the decision of LGUs in either holding or canceling tourism events.
“It’s the local government unit’s call,” said Catalbas.
But she added: “If there are events that will be pursued, the local government concerned should put precautionary measures.”
Meanwhile, Catalbas said the province of Aklan, and particularly its Boracay Island, is the “hardest hit” by the coronavirus scare in terms of tourist bookings.
There are also booking cancelations in hotels in Iloilo City, she revealed.
Although the regional director was unable to gauge by percentage the decline, she said DOT-6 is countering the decrease with “aggressive promotion”.
“Whatever or how much is the decline, our answer to that is the hotels in Boracay and Iloilo City have promotional rates,” she said.
For instance, she said, summer promotions of tourism establishments are given publicity support by the tourism department.
DOT-6 is also pushing to strengthen the umbrella campaign “Experience Western Visayas first”. She said the eight million people in Western Visayas can greatly help the tourism industry.
“With our bid to protect our health is our appeal to the people of Western Visayas to visit local destinations. Our private sector is willing to give big discounts to those who are from Western Visayas,” she said. (PNA)
