The ‘workcation’ provides a lifeline to tourist destinations

THERE’S not much for tourism businesses to do but wait. After global travel stopped in March 2020, many shuttered completely — except for hotels offering quarantine rooms and serving the occasional demand for “workcations.”

Although recovery is not quite on the horizon yet, tourism businesses and analysts agree that the industry, when it restarts, will change. The industry must offer safer travel, which not only means an emphasis on sanitary practices, but also a move to outdoor, nature-based and disasterresilient travel.

“We have still so many other places that we can develop and offer as new destinations where we can diffuse the overcrowding in the established destinations,” Tourism Congress of the

Philippines President Jose C. Clemente III said.

He said in a phone interview that this would mean more locations, along with more activities that would allow travelers to explore nature, food, or historical sites.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat in a mobile message said that travelers now prefer outdoor activities like going to the beach, hiking and biking. Eco-tourism sites, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries stand to benefit.

Such a shift could require investment in infrastructure in sites outside the established destinations. And it could mean moving away from mass tourism, or large concentrations of travelers in limited areas. Some are still holding out hope that tourism will go back to how it used to be.

SURVIVAL

The tourism industry in 2019 was on the rise, accounting for 12.8% of gross domestic product (GDP). When the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit last year, tourism revenue plummeted 83% to P81.4 billion after the number of foreign visitors fell.

This means the sector’s direct gross value added accounted for just 5.4% of GDP last year — the lowest in at least two decades, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), dating back to 2000 when the indicator was first compiled.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) could further reduce its projections for inbound tourist arrivals and receipts as pandemic-related uncertainties persist.

For now, tourism businesses — including travel agencies, tour guides, and event venues — are trying to survive until it is safe for travel to restart. Many are not operating.

“There really hasn’t been anything to adapt to. We’re still not in the post-pandemic scene. In the meantime, business essentially stopped for most of us,” Mr. Clemente said.

Smaller businesses are buoyed by lower overhead, he said, while larger companies are at a standstill and have had to temporarily lay off workers.

Government loans set aside for the industry have seen few takers while firms are still uncertain about their ability to pay them, although Mr. Clemente said such companies could use the loans to set up side businesses like food distribution as a way to survive.