Staycations and point-to-point air travel are now allowed in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus area – Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Friday.
“Dito sa NCR Plus, while we are under GCQ with heightened alert, pwede po ang staycation at meron po tayong 13 hotel dito sa NCR with a total room capacity of 5,986 na nakapag comply sa requirements ng DOT,” Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon said during a virtual briefing.
“Nakakuha na sila ng certificate of authority to operate for staycation,” Bengzon said.
The 13 hotels in NCR allowed to operate for staycations are:
- Aruga by Rockwell
- EDSA Shangri-la Manila
- Grand Hyatt Hotel
- Hilton Manila
- Hyatt Regency
- Joy Nostalg Hotel & Suites Manila
- Nobu Hotel
- Nuwa Hotel of City of Dreams
- Okada Manila Hotel
- Shangri-la at the Fort
- Sheraton Manila Hotel
- Solaire Resort
- The Peninsula Manila
The NCR Plus is under GCQ “with heightened restrictions” from May 15 to May 31, 2021.
Point-to-point (P2P) leisure air travel or chartered flights in and out of the NCR Plus to accommodations which secured a certificate of authority to operate from the DOT, will now also be allowed.
“The concept is you have a ‘bubble’ from NCR Plus to the destination. The accommodation establishment, whether a hotel or resort, needs to secure a certificate of authority to operate for point-to-point travel from the nearest DOT regional office,” Bengzon said.
The Tourism official said that allowing staycations and P2P air travel will help the tourism industry to recover.
“Ang mahalaga dito ay matulungan ang ating tourism enterprises at saka displaced tourism workers para mapabilis ang recovery ng industry,” he said.
In 2020, the DOT official said that foreign tourism revenues fell to about P82 billion from P482 billion in 2019. Ronald Espartinez