The Cebu Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association (HRRAC) has proposed that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) increase the nightly fees for properties that serve as quarantine hotels for Foreign Filipino Workers (OFWs) and Returning Filipinos (ROFs) . .
HRRAC President Alfred Reyes said hotels in Manila get P2,500 to 3,000 as charges per night, while quarantine hotels in Cebu only charge P1,400 per night.
“Our proposal is to create P2.400 for four- and five-star hotels and P2,000 for three-star hotels and below,” said Reyes.
He said that the proposed prices are already included including breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The hotel organization expects a positive response from Owwa.
“I am currently coordinating with Owwa 7,” he said.
Reyes said a hotel couldn’t survive on a pesetas 1,400 per night fee, especially with soaring bills for water, electricity, and other factors.
On May 14, 2021, Mactan-Cebu International Airport stopped accepting international arrivals for two days as there were no quarantine rooms available.
Reyes said in a previous interview that given Owwa’s price, which is half the price it pays for hotels in Manila, some hotels were hesitant to accept ROFs.
In a separate interview, Shahlimar Tamano, Director of the Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 said that an increase in the nightly fee will encourage more hotel properties in Cebu to reconsider reopening and act as quarantine hotels.
“That way we won’t have any trouble encouraging them to work as quarantine hotels,” said Tamano. “We don’t want any higher rates than in Manila. We just want it to be fair to quarantine hotels that have helped the government. “
According to Tamano, there are around 40 quarantine hotels in Cebu.
Multifunction
Meanwhile, Tamano announced that the DOT recently published an order that would allow hotel properties to function as both a leisure and quarantine hotel, provided the property meets certain conditions, such as setting separate entry and exit points for leisure and quarantine guests follow.
The story goes on
“It was HRRAC, DOT 7 and the regional Covid-19 Task Force that applied to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) so that other hotels could work for multiple use – um accepting this to local guests for leisure and quarantine, “he said.
Green alley
In addition, on Friday May 21, the DOT proposed to the IATF-MEID the establishment of a “green alley” to facilitate the entry of foreign visitors fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as part of the efforts of the national government Reopen economy.
The “green alley” will make it easier for fully vaccinated travelers to visit the country in their spare time, as quarantine rules will be relaxed as vaccination advances around the world.
Tourism Minister Bernadette Romulo Puyat is optimistic about the prospect.
“Green Lane will pave the way for our tourist destinations to reopen to leisure travelers who are now fully vaccinated. This will give jobs back to many of our tourism workers and gradually revitalize the tourism industry in safe conditions, ”she said in a statement.
IATF-MEID has hired the DOT and several other government agencies to investigate protocols for international inbound travel for fully vaccinated individuals.
Under the direction of the DOT and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a small working group was set up to evaluate the possibility of implementing “green alleys” and to formulate protocols for it.
The group includes the Department of Health Quarantine Office, Department of Justice Department of Immigration, Department of Information and Communication Technology, Department of Transportation, Office of the Presidential Advisor to the Peace Process, and the Owwa Department of Labor and Employment and Department of Trade and Industry.
Several countries have opened their main destinations to fully vaccinated foreign travelers.
“We have to keep up with our neighbors and the rest of the world in order to slowly reopen our tourist destinations. We have to be ready for the visitors when the whole world is ready to travel safely again, ”said Puyat. (JOB, KOC)
