DOT: Travel for leisure still banned in NCR

The Department of Tourism (DOT) reiterates that travelling for leisure is still prohibited in the National Capital Region (NCR) even after the shift to general community quarantine (GCQ).

“We can’t travel muna. Tourism is all about experience and travelling is part of it. But hintay-hintay lang (just wait), we will soon open hopefully in NCR,” DOT-NCR Director Woodrow Maquiling said during Thursday’s Laging Handa virtual press conference.

Maquiling however said that the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has already allowed tourist attractions in modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) areas to operate at 50 percent capacity.

He added that local government officials should give the go signal in their respective areas for the reopening of tourist attractions.

The DOT temporarily suspended tourism-related businesses in the Philippines as part of community quarantine measures.

The DOT acknowledges that tourism is one of the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. It however added that some businesses are already starting to recuperate after they were allowed to reopen.