The Department of Tourism (DOT) expressed optimism on Friday that domestic tourism will improve once the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases approves standard and simplified protocols on local travel.

In the "Laging Handa" public briefing, Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. cited a survey by the DOT with over 7,000 respondents and 81 percent of them said the top reason for the inconvenience in travelling is different protocol requirements set by the local government units.

He said they welcome the recent statement of the Department of Interior and Local Government that it will "support the efforts to simplify the requirements for moving around the different destinations."

"What we're seeing is once this is approved, to have uniform or standard protocols, more Filipinos will go around (the country)," he said.

Bengzon noted that in their survey, most respondents have expressed readiness to comply with the minimum health standard, like wearing of face mask and face shield, and to fill up health declaration for possible contact tracing.

The IATF is expected to discuss the proposal for standard and simplified requirements for domestic travel in one of its meetings.

Bengzon warned travellers from tampering their COVID-19 test results as they could still be caught similar to six tourists in Boracay Island in Aklan and two in El Nido, Palawan.

He thanked the LGUs for their efficient monitoring and tracking of the tourists who visit their respective places.

Asked of the possibility of reopening the country to foreign tourists, the DOT official said it woud be up to the IATF to decide.

"The role of the Department of Tourism is to ensure that the health and safety protocols in the different subsectors of tourism are in place," he said.

"We will come to that point (when we will open to foreign tourists). But in the meantime, our focus is domestic tourism," Bengzon said.

He expressed hope that the tourism sector would soon recover, citing that in 2019, the revenue in domestic tourism reached to over P3 trillion. Celerina Monte/DMS