The moment we've all been waiting for has finally come: the return of travel. According to the Department of Tourism, fully vaccinated people from Metro Manila have been given the green light to travel.
The new guidelines include fully vaccinated minors or those below 18 years old, fully vaccinated individuals over 65 years of age, fully vaccinated individuals with comorbidities, and fully vaccinated pregnant women.
"Further easing of travel restrictions will allow more of our fully vaccinated individuals to enjoy interzonal travel, especially families who wish to travel together," said tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. "Traveling is a way of bonding, and with all the precautions and protocols in place, we can still do it safely together. More importantly, this will encourage more Filipinos to secure their jabs as well."
She added that these developments should lead to tourism workers and stakeholders getting back their jobs and livelihoods. The industry was hit particularly hard by pandemic restrictions, with a 61.2 percent drop-from P2.5 trillion (or 12.8 percent of the country's GDP) in 2019, to just P973 billion (5.4 percent of GDP) in 2020.
Before you get completely excited, the Department of Tourism will be releasing more guidelines for point-to-point travel to make sure things are as safe as possible. Some destinations also still require RT-PCR tests before you can enter. So just keep a lookout for the guidelines and requirements.
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