BALAI founder pushes for “slow but sure” reopening of tourism industry

July 4, 2020 Metro BLISTT

Bucligan Banaue, Ifugao — “I strongly believe that the region’s tourism industry will slowly but surely bounce back from this covid-19 pandemic and get back to its former glory or even to greater heights. After all, Filipinos especially us Cordillerans, are a resilient people and will come out of this victorious in the end.”
This was the assurance of BALAI founder and known “Duterte” stalwart Timmy Apilis Mondiguing as he agreed with an earlier pronouncement of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat who expressed optimism that the country’s tourism industry will recover, though not soon.
According to international tourism experts, the general recovery of the global industry from the devastating effect of the covid-19 virus may take around three to four years, Puyat said. Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) shows that around 5.4 million Filipinos rely on the tourism industry for their livelihood. It has no tourism targets for 2H2020 as some local government units are still not opening to tourism and time is needed to “restore confidence of the people to travel”, she explained.
For this year’s January-May period, the Philippines recorded 1.3 million foreign tourists, a 62.2 per cent plunge from 3.46 million posted during the same period last year. Arrivals were virtually zero in April and May.
Foreign exchange receipts during the period under review nosedived by 81.6 per cent to 81.05 billion pesos (US$1.62 billion). Puyat said that while marketing and promotions are continuing for tourism, attention is also paid to highlighting the safety of the destinations, specifically how they are enforcing physical distancing and contact tracing.
She expects domestic tourism will return with overland trips to destinations near metro Manila such as La Union, Baler, Pampanga and Batangas. Tourists will go first around their municipalities before exploring cities and making inter-island trips.
For his part, Mondiguing said he fully supports the DOT’s plan of focusing on the revival of the domestic economy first once local and international travel restrictions are lifted. “I think that the DOT is on the right track in targeting its tourism efforts on domestic and short-haul international tourists or travelers from nearby ASEAN and other Asian countries,” he stressed.
Mondiguing’s home province of Ifugao relies heavily on tourism as it is among the top tourist destinations in the country for local and foreign travelers since it is where the majestic Banaue Rice Terraces, considered one of the Eight Wonders of the World, is located.
Just like the Tourism Secretary, he welcomes the gradual reopening of tourism establishments and destinations due to the further easing of quarantine restrictions. He made it clear, however, that he fully understands the apprehensions of several local government units who are reluctant to reopen despite given the green light to do so for fear of catching the covid-19 virus.
Among these are top tourist destinations like Boracay, Bohol and Baguio City that have been eased into modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the lowest form of restriction. Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap said he is comfortable to reopen his province by July while Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong is more comfortable to reopen by September.
“Let me emphasize that the reopening of the tourism industry, while very welcome, must be done in a gradual and deliberate manner to make sure that it would not contribute to the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The public’s health must be paramount at all times,” Mondiguing said.
Amianan Balita