State­ment of the Depart­ment of Tour­sim:
On the after­math of super typho­on Yolan­da (Hai­yan)

[Novem­ber 12, 2013]

The Depart­ment of Tou­rism (DOT) is one with the who­le nati­on in expres­sing its deepest sym­pa­thies to the fami­lies and vic­tims of the Super Typho­on Yolan­da (inter­na­tio­nal code name “Hai­yan”), one of the stron­gest typho­ons that made land­fall in recor­ded histo­ry.

The towns that were severely affec­ted are loca­ted in the pro­vin­ces of Ley­te and Eas­tern Samar, as well as a few pla­ces in the Sou­thern Taga­log Regi­on (par­ti­cu­lar­ly Coron in Pala­wan). The government remains on top of the ongo­ing search, res­cue, retrie­val, and reli­ef ope­ra­ti­ons for the vic­tims of the Super Typho­on Yolan­da.

The DOT is focu­sed on the safe­ty and moni­to­ring of tou­rist move­ment in all affec­ted are­as and has no reports so far of any end­an­ger­ment. The DOT’s objec­tive is to focus on quick reco­very so that tou­rism inco­me is res­to­red at the soo­nest pos­si­ble time. Bul­le­tin announ­ce­ments will be posted via the DOT web­site (www​.tou​rism​.gov​.ph), while DOT over­se­as and regio­nal offices are also on stand­by to assist poten­ti­al tra­vel­lers and tho­se alrea­dy in the coun­try for tra­vel infor­ma­ti­on. Local tour com­pa­nies are in con­stant com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on with their coun­ter­parts abroad to pro­vi­de updates on the situa­ti­on.

The Phil­ip­pi­nes remains a safe and fun desti­na­ti­on for all tou­rists, not­wi­th­stan­ding this unfor­tu­n­a­te inci­dent. The DOT assu­res the tra­vel­ling public that tou­rism estab­lish­ments and tou­rism activi­ties con­ti­nue and remain in ope­ra­ti­on in the other parts of the Phil­ip­pi­nes, which play host to some of the country’s key tou­rist desti­na­ti­ons. The gre­at majo­ri­ty of tou­ris­tic pro­duc­ts are avail­ab­le, whe­ther one is loo­king for a beach vaca­ti­on, his­to­ri­cal trip, gas­tro­no­mic tour, or one of the many other pos­si­ble tra­vel oppor­tu­nities. The coun­try is home to some of the world’s gre­at tou­rist sites and adven­tures with its unpar­al­leled natu­ral won­ders, spec­ta­cu­lar beaches, world-renow­ned heri­ta­ge sites, modern shop­ping com­ple­xes, rich bio­di­ver­si­ty, cul­tu­re, and histo­ry.

The top desti­na­ti­ons in the Visay­as Regi­on con­ti­nue to be acces­si­ble through their respec­tive ports of ent­ry: Bora­cay Island through Kali­bo and Cati­c­lan, Cebu through the Mac­tan Inter­na­tio­nal Air­port, Bohol through the Tag­bilar­an Air­port, Iloi­lo through the Iloi­lo and Baco­lod Silay Air­ports, and Puer­to Prince­sa, Pala­wan through the Puer­to Prince­sa Air­port.

Tou­rism con­ti­nues to be one of the major con­tri­bu­tors to the eco­no­my, play­ing a signi­fi­cant role in rebuil­ding lives and busi­nes­ses in com­mu­nities. We rely on our part­ners, both in the pri­va­te and public sec­tors, to embark on initia­ti­ves that will help us achie­ve nor­mal­cy and sustain the tou­rism growth, par­ti­cu­lar­ly in the affec­ted desti­na­ti­ons.

Fili­pi­nos have always been resi­li­ent and con­ti­nue to be so now. The DOT is opti­mistic and hope­ful that the Phil­ip­pi­nes will over­co­me and move for­ward from the­se dif­fi­cult times