Twin calamities dampen tourism growth in 2013

CEBU, Philippines - What started as a promising year for tourism has turned into a challenging one, as the year of water snake—2013, left two unforgettable nightmares that temporarily shattered the strong momentum of the region’s tourism sector.

“The year 2013 was showing a lot of promises for the tourism industry until the multiple disasters that struck the Visayas. The year started out very promising with airlines, both international and domestic taking aggressive moves to stimulate further travel to and within the Philippines.  Target figures for tourist arrivals were on track and even exceeded for domestic travel goals.  But the recent wave of calamities in the Visayas region, where tourism is strongest, has slowed down travel to these areas,” said tourism capitalist, and prime mover Jonathan “Jay” P. Aldeguer.

The recent earthquake and typhoon were “big blows” to tourism sector in the region, as well to the entire Philippines, he said.

Although the industry saw an encouraging movement in the first semester of  2013, its growth was not able to offset the severe devastations that happened in October 15 earthquake, and the November 8 typhoon.

“Cebu and Bohol especially both main tourism draws have taken a "hit."  Roads in Bohol as well as tourist attractions have been damaged while Cebu's northern islands of Bantayan and Malapascua were also affected.  Boracay, on the other hand was not directly hit by the storm but has been getting several cancellations mainly from international visitors.  Electricity and internet access continue to challenge Boracay, which was just declared top beach destination in the world three years in a row by top travel magazines,” said Aldeguer.

Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) President Cenelyn Manguilimotan described the year 2013 as challenging. Although there was growth in the first two quarters in 2013, it was not “significant” enough to pull up the weak performance it registered towards the end of the year, due to the two big disasters.

The resorts in Cebu mostly located in Mactan, for instance only recorded an average occupancy rate of 67 percent to 70 percent in the first nine months of year, in the last two months however, the rate dropped to 60 percent or less, said Lapu-Lapu City head for tourism Hembler Mendoza.

According to Aldeguer, this year (2013) had all the makings of a banner year for travel in the Philippines; the result of  the liberalization of the "open skies" policy is taking effect.  Foreign airline players are now trying to compete directly with local players.  The talks of upgrade in the FAA rating have also spurred more interest in the tourism industry in the Philippines. The upgrade would allow airlines from the country to expand and mount additional flights to the US and other international destinations. Also very encouraging are the added international flights by the local carriers.  PAL has recently launched more flights to Australia and the UK while Cebu Pacific has launched their flights to the Middle East. “But there are still problems that continue to plague the industry.”

The most urgent is infrastructure development especially the airports. It will be a challenge to further invite tourists to the country if the airports remain congested and substandard. 

“This is where the "bottleneck" lies.  Aside from that, roads and better access to tourist destinations should be in place,” he stressed.

Unless the Local Government Units (LGUs) understand how tourism can benefit their place and its people, tourism growth will continue to be derailed.

“We need LGUs participation in creating attractive products to travelers.  Bohol is an excellent example of active LGU participation. I think we as a people also need to understand that tourism is one of the few industries where we can truly be the leader in the region.  But as of now, all efforts even by stakeholders are still disintegrated.  There is still lack of coherence in our strategies and moves to optimize the potential of a great product that is the Philippines.  We need to establish a culture of tourism not only in "pockets" but as a nation.  After all, it’s the people which is our main draw,” said Aldeguer, who is the president of Islands Group of Companies, the firm that operates several tourism related establishments, such as Island Souvenirs, Islands Stay, Islands Banca Cruise, among others.

Based on the latest report from National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7), tourism target for region has already achieved 56.7 percent average growth in the last three years, and the sector is seen to hit the 3.3 million target arrival for this year.

The agency however, has not discounted the severe effects of the two disasters, the reason why it is currently undertaking close monitoring activities, together with other concerned agencies, following the huge devastation of Bohol’s tourism landmarks and infrastructure, and the recent typhoon Yolanda that salvaged the tourism potential largely in Northern Cebu.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) tourism committee chairperson Milagros Espina said what happened in 2013 for tourism sector in Cebu, should again be considered as another reminder for stakeholders to work together, and set aside competition, as well as political divisions.

“Now, there will be a need for more initiatives to promote and rebuild what has been lost during the calamities. We have to safeguard our potential in tourism. We have to strengthen our international connections and partnerships,” said Espina.

Likewise, Cebu Business Club(CBC) President Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph said while there’s no question that the earthquake and the typhoon severely affected the tourism industry in Cebu in the last quarter of 2013, “We stayed the year with a ‘happy surge.’”

Unfortunately, he said that the industry saw many cancellations in the aftermath.

“I do hope the industry pulls together and does what Bali did after the bombing, and what Thailand did after the tsunami. They promoted and discounted rate packages to attract the tourists back—and the strategy worked,’ said Joseph.

Department of Tourism (DOT-7) Regional Director Rowena Montecillo said that despite the challenges that hit the tourism sector towards the end of 2013, the industry is seen to recover within the short term, while everybody is working hard to protect the region’s one of the top economic drivers. /JOB (FREEMAN)