MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism on Wednesday advised all tourism enterprises operating in all areas affected by the Taal Volcano eruption to cease operations in view of the alert level 4 warning hoisted over the volcano.
Taal lake can be viewed in the popular tourist destination Tagaytay in Cavite City.
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“The continued health, safety and welfare of our workers and tourists remain a top priority at this time as authorities have not downgraded the advisory on an imminent eruption,” the DOT said in a statement.
Alert level 4 indicates "hazardous eruption imminent."
The Department of Health earlier warned that volcanic ash, which may contain powder-size to sand-size particles, may cause some health problems.
In view of this advisory, the DOT is calling for the full cooperation of all tourism stakeholders “to help avoid serious consequences that may result from irresponsible behavior during this natural disaster.”
DOT acknowledged that the tourism industry in Tagaytay City “has suffered tremendous setback” but it is hopeful that tourism in the entire Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) region will prove its resilience and recover from this situation.
In 2018, the DOT reported that there are around 4.22 million day tourists and 982,120 overnight guests in Tagaytay on that year alone.
The hotels and other tourism properties were, however, prompted to close down following the Taal Volcano eruption.
“The Department of Tourism joins the nation in hopes and prayers that Taal's volcanic activity would soon dissipate, as millions of lives and livelihood are imperiled by the continued eruption,” it said in a separate statement.
“At this point in time, the DOT's foremost concern is public safety including foreign and local tourists affected by this fortuitous event,” it added.