The government has given its go signal for hotels to operate in full capacity in areas under the General Community Quarantine or GCQ and Modified General Community Quarantine or MGCQ.

Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said that this is still up to the hotel administrators if they want to open in full capacity and if they can handle the required safety protocols.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is set to issue guidelines on the expanded operational capacity of hotels.

Hotels were previously required to get a certificate of authority to operate in areas under the GCQ status.

“Also approved in the said resolution is the easing up of interzonal and intra-zonal movement, which is the predicate to reviving domestic tourism. Along with this comes the need to ready the whole tourism value chain, which includes the accommodation, transportation and tour operation sectors. Allowing the accommodation sector to operate at full capacity will be most welcomed by tourism’s workforce that has been greatly affected since the community lockdown.”, Puyat said.