El Nido to Expand Travel Bubble, Tourists Must Test Negative for Virus

Palawan's El Nido is set to move to the second phase of its travel bubble strategy on Oct. 30 and reopen to tourists as long as visitors test negative for the virus before travel, authorities said.

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El Nido has been selected as the world's best island by international publications for years now. Tourism Sec. Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said she would like the area to be seen as part of the tourism industry's rebirth during the pandemic.

The island lost P3.2 billion due to the seven-month quarantine that also displaced 5,997 workers, she said 

Palawan's El Nido resorts were the first tourism establishments to obtain a certificate of authority to operate from the Department of Tourism after its strict compliance with protocols. In July, the area reopened under the first phase of the travel bubble strategy. 

Following best practices from other tourist destinations such as Baguio and Boracay, the Palawan gem can now move on to the second phase and reopen to tourists, as long as visitors obtain a negative RT-PCR result 72 hours prior to scheduled travel, Puyat said.

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