SAGADA, Mountain Province – The municipal government announced that the proposed opening of the local tourism industry by the end of the month remains uncertain because of the continuous surge in the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the municipality over the past several weeks.
Mayor James Pooten stated that there is a need to continue striking a balance between the health and safety of the populace and visitors and the proposed gradual and safe revival of the local economy because of the serious negative impact of the ongoing health crisis to the job generation and economic activities of the people in the locality.
He claimed that the repeated postponement of the gradual and safe opening of the local tourism industry will pave the way for the concerned stakeholders to put in place the online registration of prospective tourists wanting to spend a well-deserved vacation in the municipality in the future following reported glitches in the said system.
Mayor Pooten disclosed that there are some problems being encountered by the system, especially on the proposed online payment, that is why it will be best for the concerned stakeholders to make do with the initial online booking to allow the roll out of the system once the local tourism industry will be opened for interested travelers from the different parts of the world.
Earlier, the municipal government planned to gradually and slowly open the local tourism industry last September but the same was put on hold because of the surges in COVID-19 cases that were triggered by the more infectious Delta variant that struck most parts of the country over the past several months.
According to him, the municipal inter-agency task force will be holding a meeting in the coming days to discuss the possibility of gradually and slowly opening the town’s tourism industry probably once there will be a significant improvement in the daily COVID-19 cases being recorded in the municipality so that the local economy will be revived for the benefit of the people relying on tourism-related activities as their source of income for the upliftment of the living condition of their families.
Pooten stipulated that the municipal government continues to be vigilant on the latest trend of the deadly virus in the municipality so that local officials and health authorities will be able to present to the concerned stakeholders the appropriate recommendations on how to jumpstart the opening of the local tourism industry because of the increasing demand for the tourism industry to be able to recover from the effects of the ongoing pandemic.
He emphasized that based on the initial agreements that had been reached by the local government and the concerned tourism industry stakeholders, it will be the open air tourism that will be opened to ensure that there will still be adherence by the visitors and the tourism industry stakeholders to the prevailing implementation of the minimum public health standards to avoid the occurrence of unnecessary incidents that may trigger future surges in COVID-19 cases that might derail the opening of the tourism industry in the coming months.
Sagada is one of the premier tourist destinations in the country because of its scenic destinations that are frequented by both foreign and domestic tourists. By HENT
