DOT accredits 374 Baguio establishments; tourists up

BAGUIO CITY -- Three hundred seventy-four accommodation establishments here were given the certificate of accreditation or certificate of compliance by the Dept. of Tourism Cordillera as visitors to this summer capital peaked.
    Supervising City Tourism Operations Officer engineer Aloysius C. Mapalo said accredited accommodation establishments were big and small hotels, transient houses and home stays to ensure their compliance to health protocols in accommodating visitors.
    He said the number of accommodation establishments issued by the regional DOT with certificate of accreditation or certificate of compliance was low compared to over 1,000 transient houses in the city before the pandemic.

 The city tourism officer said the DOT-CAR and the local government inspect accommodation establishments applying for certificate of accreditation or certificate of compliance to ensure said businesses will not breach Covid-19 health standards.

He said this is part of efforts of government agencies and the city government for  gradual and safe revival of the heavily impacted industry and economy of the city.

 Mapalo admitted the city’s effort to bring back vibrance of the local tourism industry suffered a serious setback when the National Capital Region plus bubble was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine several months ago and the city had zero tourist arrivals from the end of March up to April 12.

 Tourism arrivals started to increase to more than 500 end of April and drastically increased end of May with 1,400 documented visitors.

 From June 1-13, Mapalo said there were more than 2,900 tourist arrivals in the city following lowering of the community quarantine status of the NCR plus bubble as bulk of the city’s tourist arrivals come from the Metro Manila area and its neighboring regions.

He said accommodation establishments reported because of the sudden increase in tourist arrivals in the city the past weeks, they reached 50 percent capacity. -- Dexter A. See