As the Philippines gradually restarts travel activities with the easing of mobility restrictions, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has encouraged travelers to patronize facilities and establishments carrying the government-issued Safety Seal certificate.

“Hinihikayat po natin ang ating mga consumers (We encourage our consumers), especially those who will be traveling in the big travel months, summer is coming, we have to patronize facilities and establishments who have aside from having the DOT accreditation have a Safety Seal just to assure them that they’ll be in safe hands, that they’ll be enjoying a safe vacation or a better service for them,” DOT director for tourism standards and regulation Virgilio Maguigad said in a virtual forum Thursday.

The safety seal program is a voluntary program to certify that an establishment is compliant with the minimum public health standards set by the government and uses or integrates its contact tracing with StaySafe.ph.

Since the start of the program, some 1,612 DOT-accredited tourism enterprises have applied for the certification.

At least 1,582 seals were already issued, while 30 applications are either for evaluation or for processing.

Maguigad said Metro Manila, Western Visayas and Region 4-A (Calabarzon) have the most number of seals released, with 264, 168, and 161, respectively.

READ: Safety Seal means more clients, less worries

The official said this is equally important for the tourism establishments as this serves as a “badge” to show their strict compliance to minimum health and safety standards.

“Our wish at the DOT is, with the reopening of the tourism industry, we’d have a better economy possibly this coming year. A lot of these tourism workers are counting on the resurgence of the industry kasi maraming nasalanta na kabuhayan dahil sa pandemya (because many businesses were affected by the pandemic),” he said.

“This Safety Seal program is one way to encourage our tourists and assure them that they’ll be traveling in safe environments,” he added.

The seal is valid for six months from the date of issue, except for those of tourism enterprises which shall be valid for one year. (PNA)