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Local tour guides welcome tourists in Ilocos Norte

By Leilanie Adriano

October 16, 2020, 11:22 am

<p><strong>HELLO, ILOCOS NORTE.</strong> After several months of lockdown, Ilocos Norte reopens to tourists. Photo shows the first tourists from the National Capital Region present their SafePass QR Code for scanning at the Badoc gateway on Thursday (Oct. 15, 2020). <em>(Photo courtesy of Jan Carlo Caldito of Ilocos Heritage Tour)</em></p>

HELLO, ILOCOS NORTE. After several months of lockdown, Ilocos Norte reopens to tourists. Photo shows the first tourists from the National Capital Region present their SafePass QR Code for scanning at the Badoc gateway on Thursday (Oct. 15, 2020). (Photo courtesy of Jan Carlo Caldito of Ilocos Heritage Tour)

LAOAG CITY – Wearing her favorite personalized tour guide shirt she has not worn for months, Karen Lucas said she is excited to welcome tourists once again in the province.

After seven months of lockdown, Lucas and other tourist guides from Ilocos Norte are as excited as their visitors from Baguio City and the National Capital Region who arrived at the visitors’ triage in Barangay Darat, Pinili, Ilocos Norte.

Ilocos Norte, known for its pristine beaches, has reopened its borders to tourists on October 15 to jumpstart the local economy.

Even with the reopening of tourism, health protocols to curb the spread of coronavirus are strictly implemented.

Upon arrival at the triage, both tourists and tour guides have to submit themselves to rapid antigen tests.

Lucas said her first tourists from Baguio would stay in the province for three days and two nights.

“For today, we will be visiting Paoay Church, Malacañang of the North and Paoay sand dunes,” she said.

In an interview Thursday, provincial tourism officer Aianree Raquel of the Ilocos Norte Tourism Office (INTO) said "healthy" tourists from Luzon are welcome, provided they follow all the guidelines for the first phase of the reopening of tourism.

Guided by the principles of being safe, gradual, and regulated travel, Raquel said there are a lot of open spaces where tourists are allowed and they must stick with the travel itinerary for their safety. Tourists however are not allowed in public markets and other highly dense areas where locals frequent.

Comparing tourist arrival data for the same period in 2019, the local tourism industry has an estimated loss of PHP14.8 billion based on estimated tourist receipts due to the pandemic, according to the INTO.

“We are not saying this is 100 percent accurate but it really shows how big our tourism activity in the province is,” said Raquel, citing that there are around 200 out of the 350 tourism establishments in Ilocos Norte which have secured their certificate to operate with the Department of Tourism and the provincial government.

Tourists who plan to visit the province would have to pre-register using a web-based tourist registration system (stayin.ilocosnorte.ph), developed by the Mariano Marcos State University and book in a hotel both accredited by the DOT and the provincial government.

Tourists must also be assisted by an accredited tour agency that will be made responsible for monitoring the tourists and manage their itinerary.

Tourists will not be allowed to stay with relatives or friends as a health precaution.

Before entry at the border, tourists are required to secure a travel authority, medical certificate, accomplish a health declaration form not earlier than 48 hours before departure for Ilocos Norte using the Stay IN app, and show a negative rapid antigen test within 48 hours before arrival at the border checkpoint.

Original documents and IDs must be shown at the border for verification. (PNA)

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