UNDERSEA WONDER With the number of COVID-19 cases dropping in provinces outside Metro Manila, Sorsogon is joining other tourism destinations in opening their borders to accept leisure travelers. “Butanding” (whale shark) interaction in Donsol town, shown in this April 2020 photo, is among the province’s top crowd-drawers. —PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC KIM/ELYSIA BEACH RESORT
LEGAZPI CITY—Tourism industry players in Sorsogon province are hoping to recover from the economic slump brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic after authorities recently downgraded the province’s alert status to level 2, prompting the easing of restrictions and reopening of tourist establishments after two years.
Bobby Gigantone, chief of the Sorsogon tourism office, said the province reopened last week the “butanding” (whale shark) interaction in Donsol town following a multisectoral meeting which set the guidelines and protocols that would be implemented to ensure the safety of both tourists and locals.
In a recent meeting with Donsol Mayor Josephine Alcantara-Cruz and representatives of tourism-related businesses, Herbie Aguas, Department of Tourism Bicol director, said the reopening of tourism activities in Donsol town would boost the local economy, which took a beating from the lockdowns and restrictions imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its variants during the past two years.
Ready
Aguas said hotels in Donsol were ready to accept guests. “They are all fully vaccinated and the establishments are recipients of safety seal,” he said.
Under alert level 2, indoor establishments would be allowed 50-percent capacity. Outdoor areas are allowed up to 70-percent capacity.
Sorsogon requires visitors to present their vaccination cards before they are allowed to enter the province.
“But for tourists who are unvaccinated, a 48-hour negative antigen or RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test result would serve as a pass in entering Sorsogon so it won’t be stressful on their part,” Gigantone said.
Since Donsol reopened on Feb. 14, the town had entertained 60 guests, seven of them foreigners.
Before the pandemic triggered travel restrictions and closures in 2020, the town welcomed 2,375 guests (1,614 foreign) from January to March 15. In 2019, Donsol received 18,384 guests (9,573 foreign).
When restrictions relaxed for a short period in 2021, Donsol had only 364 local guests from March to June.
Cruz, in a text message, said the town lost at least P75 million in tourism revenues in 2020 and 2021 due to travel restrictions and closures.
Losses
Aguas said the pandemic had hurt Bicol’s tourism industry, with the region logging P10 billion in revenue losses.
He said it would take two to three years for the industry to gradually recover and for the government to pour in funds to assist in the recovery plan.
Sorsogon Gov. Francis Escudero said the reopening of the tourism sites would help local communities, particularly its workers, to bounce back.