Friday, October 9, 2020

1,200 tourists register with Baguio VISITA online portal

BAGUIO CITY – The tourism office here said a total of 1,249 prospective tourists have registered at the Baguio VISITA (visitor information and travel assistance) online portal.   
    In an advisory, City Tourism Officer Aloysius Mapalo said the account registrations were applied for as of Oct. 3 with 107 of them making travel requests and also uploading the requirements. 
    The city government requires a tourist to have a confirmed booking with a tour agency and accommodation establishment issued with a certificate of authority to operate. 
    A swab test result is also required. 
    Tourists also need to propose an itinerary subject to the approval of the city government through the city tourism office.  
    Once approved, an individual quick response (QR) code will be sent to the tourist which will serve as a pass at the border checkpoint borders. 
    Mapalo said “these are guided tours and only the places in the itinerary will be visited. We do not yet allow DIY (do it yourself) travel.” 
    He said while tourists cannot visit a relative or a friend in Baguio, they can meet at the hotel restaurant where the guests are staying. 
    The market tour which used to give a different experience for the tourists is not yet allowed, thus purchase of a ” pasalubong” will be done through the tour guide. 
    “We limit the exposure for the safety of both locals and tourists,” Mapalo said. 
    Meanwhile, of the total 107 travel requests, 46 were from Region 1, 32 from the National Capital Region, 14 from Region 3, 10 from Region 4-A, four from Cordillera, and one from the United States.  
    Mapalo said requests from outside Region 1 will be notified when travel from their regions will already be allowed. 
    He said there were two tourists from Region 1 who arrived on October 2 for a weekend visit in the city. 
    There were also 43 approved visits whose travels from Region 1 will be spread out for the whole month of October, he added.  
    Mapalo said there were also approved travel requests for November and December.-- PNA

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