The Department of Tourism (DOT) has expressed support for the streamlining of travel procedures and requirements imposed by local government units (LGUs).

“The DOT has long been advocating for the simplification of travel requirements as this is critical in making domestic tourism work,” DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a news release issued Tuesday.

Results of the survey titled, “The Evolving Landscape of Domestic Tourism”, show that 81 percent of respondents consider the varying LGU requirements as the factor that makes travel most inconvenient.

“Streamlining entry requirements will make traveling in the new normal more convenient while also protecting the public’s safety and well-being. Furthermore, this will also help in preventing the entry of those who falsify documents by standardizing validation protocols,” Puyat said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is streamlining the fragmented rules and requirements of LGUs to help the travel and tourism industry.

Among the common travel requirements are medical certificates, other types of pre-travel or test-on-arrival for Covid and quarantine.

At the destinations, some rules that need to be standardized are those that relate to swab tests for children/infants, rooming or capacity limits, and age restrictions vis-à-vis inter- and intra-regional movement of domestic tourists. (PNA)