Stranded foreign and local tourists in Palawan may help boost the marketing of this island in restarting the tourism industry of the province said Department of Tourism MIMAROPA Regional Director Chris Morales during a live webinar, May 22.
Morales said that the remaining 500 plus stranded tourists in Palawan and those they are assisting for sweeper and mercy flights felt secure and safe on the island that’s why they chose to stay here during the quarantine period.
Dubbed as “MIMAROPA Tourism Restart”, the webinar was hosted by Exlinkevents over Facebook was joined by tourism stakeholders and workers.
“Yung mga tinulungan na tourist[s] na stranded, we can use them in marketing, na how safe sila here, maybe in social media,” Morales added.
These tourists are staying in Puerto Princesa, San Vicente and El Nido. Those who already arrived in their home countries are posting blogs and positive comments and reviews about the hospitality they experienced during the quarantine period.
“Majority of them are in Puerto Princesa, San Vicente, El Nido. Majority of them also their country is experiencing this worldwide pandemic. Some of them say na mas safer kami dito sa Palawan kesa pumunta kami ng manila, at di pa sure kung may flight sila,” Morales added.
While majority of hotels and accommodation in Palawan are currently closed, there are some that were able cater stranded guests. They were given good discounts for staying longas well.
“Most of them are pleasant. Funny thing, some of them ask[ed] for brooms and dust pan, and they clean their rooms. We don’t need to send housekeepers, which is a very good sign,” Bryan John Dizon, President Association of Accredited Tourist Accommodation of Puerto Princesa Palawan (ATAPPP) said during the online forum.
According to Morales, the Philippine tourism industry loss is estimated to be around P90 million since the start of lockdown. A decrease of 54% in tourist arrival is documented, while 5.4 million workers lost their jobs.
For DOT, it already took steps to help the sector such as tax incentives, proposing soft loan packages, tax exemption, and waived accreditation fee.
A series of online seminars have been planned for displaced tourism workers in Palawan, Morales said adding that they are giving action to the requests in Puerto Princesa to conduct training in Business Processing and Outsourcing.
But to when the tourism sector of Palawan will be in full operation is the question that webinar cannot answer at the moment.
“Kung in place na yung safety and health protocols, yung minimum standard ay andun, looking at destination and tourist activity kung malakihan o malapitan, tinitingnan pa namin yan sa guidelines hindi pa natin masabi kung 50% o 30%. It’s a case to case [basis] on how ready is the LGU and yung mga tourism stakeholders, and how ready yung mga committee natin to follow the rules,” Morales said.
The MIMAROPA Tourism restart was hosted by Jojo Clemente, President of Tourism Congress of the Philippines, Microtel Palawan Manager Rene Suarez also joined the panel during the webinar.