Mindanaotoday.com | PGMO: Tourism industry bounces back amid Covid-19
By: Jan Albert Araña
MISAMIS ORIENTAL – The Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental (PGMO) tourism office is now beefing up the recovery measures of its tourism industry across municipalities and component cities to counter the losses incurred during the surge of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
As one of the worst-affected industries in the global health crisis, various tourist establishments were forced to close, and people were laid off.
Despite the dent, Misamis Oriental Tourism Officer Lawyer Jeffrey Saclot disclosed that tourism in the province is now recovering from the adverse effect of the pandemic and moving forward to the new normal setting.
“Tourism industry is one of the hardest-hit industries in the occurrence of the Covid-19 pandemic, but we are happy to say that we are recovering,” he said.
With the pending conversion of the Laguindingan Airport into an international airport, the provincial government is now preparing the tourism industry as it expects an increase in foreign tourists due to increased accessibility.
As one of their key programs early next year, both the tourism office and the provincial engineering office will be busy developing identified tourist spots as part of the said preparation.
Also, the head of tourism said that different tourism businesses in the province haven’t raised their entrance fees yet because they know how the pandemic has affected local tourists.
He also said that they told owners of tourist spots to improve their facilities and amenities before raising prices, so that tourists would have a good opinion of the place.
The provincial tourism office reminds all tourist enterprises in the province to always prioritize the safety of their guests by following the minimum health protocol since COVID-19 is still in effect and for those water-based establishments to always have lifeguards present. (JAKA | PIA-10 | Misamis Oriental)
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