BAGUIO CITY – Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is back in the Summer Capital of the Philippines to officially launch the city’s first online visitor management system today (September 22).
“We are introducing a new digital monitoring system that will be used to keep track of visitor activities to protect our tourists and the communities within the new green corridor. This will also complement the stringent inter-provincial border controls designed to safeguard the public’s health and safety in CAR and Region 1,” Puyat said in her opening remarks.
Dubbed as the Baguio Visitor Information and Travel Assistance or VIS.I.T.A., the digital platform will have the following features:
1) a Visitor Web Dashboard for account registration, travel registration, payments, QR coupon reading, and dispensing travel advisories and tourism information.
2) a Site Portal for the profile registration of tourism establishments, services, and sites. It also hosts the check in/out mechanism and centralized contact-tracing database.
3) an Admin Interface, for the real-time monitoring of visitor profiles and sites visited; setting registration requirements and visitor criteria. It contains data analytics and advisories.
4) a Mobile App, for the mobile version of V.I.S.I.T.A.’s web functions. It receives real-time notifications, and can be used as a travel guide and for assistance.
“In the months following the coronavirus outbreak, the Department strongly encouraged its stakeholders to embrace the digitalization of their business processes. As the world moves toward contactless transactions, it was important that we adapted quickly to this ‘low-touch’ economy,” she emphasized.
The DOT provided the technology to Baguio’s local government for free through the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), to support the city’s gradual reopening to tourists, starting with the Ridge and Reef Corridor Plan with the provinces of La Union, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte (BLUPISIN).
In addition to the launching of the Baguio VIS.I.T.A. and the Ridge and Reef Corridor Plan, Puyat also visited the mini travel and trade fair that featured participating businesses from BLUPISIN.
“I am praying for the Ridge and Reef Travel Corridor’s success, as it will prove to local travelers that inter regional tourism can be done safely, responsibly, and sustainably. As confidence in traveling locally grows, we hope to emulate its success in many other areas around the country, giving us valuable momentum for our push towards the tourism industry’s recovery,” Puyat enthused.
