ni Lolet Abania | February 14, 2022
Mahigit sa 7,000 fully-vaccinated na mga dayuhan ang dumating sa bansa matapos na buksan uli ito sa kanila noong Huwebes, ayon sa Department of Tourism (DOT).
Sinabi ni DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat na umabot sa 7,051 foreign travelers, kung saan 45 porsiyento ay mga Pilipino na may foreign passports, ang dumating sa bansa mula Huwebes hanggang Linggo.
Mula ang mga dayuhang turista sa United States, Canada, Australia, UK, Japan, at South Korea.
“A lot were to be reunited with their families. May mga asawa dito na Filipina. Some said, ‘I haven’t seen my fiancé for 18 months and I’m excited to see her, I came home because I want to help the typhoon victims’,” sabi ni Romulo-Puyat sa isang virtual interview ngayong Lunes.
“Meron din nagsabi na, ‘I want to build homes for the typhoon victims.’ I saw a family from Bulgaria, they wanted to vlog... A lot were coming here because they wanted to come here for business,” ani kalihim.
“I hope tuloy-tuloy na ito, ‘wag sana magkaroon ng bagong variant of concern, but of course nobody can predict that. That’s the only thing I can see na will stop everything, if there’s a new variant of concern identified by the WHO (World Health Organization),” saad pa ng opisyal.
“Without it tuloy-tuloy na ito. We’re vaccinated, we’re getting our booster shots.” Ayon sa opisyal, ang ahensiya ay nakapagbakuna na kontra-COVID-19 ng 92 porsiyento ng mga tourism workers sa buong bansa habang ilang tourist destinations gaya ng Boracay, Baguio City ay may 100% vaccination rate na at sinimulan na ring mag-administer ng booster shots.
“Mas masaya sila sa bakuna kesa sa ayuda. This means kasi malapit na kami magbukas, this means we’re safe,” pahayag ni Romulo-Puyat. “Even a foreigner can get his booster shot for free. Now we have so much vaccines we’re ready to be vaccinated,” dagdag niya.
Nagpahayag naman ng kasiyahan ang DOT chief dahil sa nabuksan niyang muli ang turismo ng bansa bago siya umalis sa kanyang opisina.
“Akala ko lalakad lang ako by the beach, or promote (tourist destinations) but challenges after challenges. But ang maganda naman happy ang ending natin,” wika ni Romulo-Puyat.
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