Key destinations in palawan lose over p3 billion in tourism receipts
THE era of mass tourism is over. As far as Gov. Jose Ch. Alvarez is concerned, tourists for Palawan will be “selective, targeted, prioritized.” Last year, he said, the entire province recorded some 150 million in tourist arrivals.
In a news briefing live from El Nido, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat added the three major tourism destinations in the province, namely, El Nido, San Vicente, and Coron, already lost P3.1 billion in tourism receipts from March to June this year.the travel restrictions and community quarantines implemented to contain the spread of Covid-19 has also “displaced 14,000 tourism workers” in these destinations alone.
Alvarez didn’t give a definite date when Palawan will start accepting tourists, preferring to wait for the results of a “dry run” to be conducted by the Department of Tourism from the Clark International Airport in Pampanga to El Nido Resorts. The province has been under modified general community quarantine since June 1 and is technically allowed to accept leisure visitors already, but so far, it is only to returning residents via the Puerto Princesa Airport.
He pointed out that he and Mayor Lucilo Bayron agreed to keep the Puerto Princesa Airport open “because this is the lifeblood of the province.”
Romulo Puyat said the tourism “dry run” in El Nido will be conducted soon after DOT’S dry run in Baguio City, which plans to reopen to tourism in September. El Nido and its beaches have been consistently on the list of the “world’s best” of various international travel publications.
She said, what is currently being discussed with Alvarez and other local government units in Palawan are for tourists to come in from Clark, or from Manila.
“Pwedeng point to point muna, They can come from Clark or Manila,” she said.
But the tourists first have to undergo the RT-PCR tests in Clark, or any Department of Health-accredited hospital in Metro Manila, if flying in via from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The tourists, stressed Alvarez and the DOT chief, will shoulder the costs of their Covid tests.
Alvarez said he expects the Palawan economy to be in recession by the third quarter, after recording contractions in the first half of the year. “There are no profits to be made in 2020,” he said of the local tourism players, “but we will target [for profits] in 2021 and onwards.”
Romulo Puyat said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is continuing its study on the carrying capacity for El Nido and other destinations, and a firm number on tourism limits will be set before these are finally opened to tourists.
She thanked El Nido Mayor Edna G. Lim for allowing the upcoming dry run to El Nido Resorts and hoped the mayors of Coron and San Vicente would soon follow suit.
She likewise challenged El Nido Resorts to adopt the health and safety protocols prescribed by the Interagency Task Force in Emerging Infectious Diseases and the DOT for accommodation establishments. An Ayala Group subsidiary, El Nido Resorts is a Dot-accredited primary tourism enterprise.