Tourism post-pandemic

Published November 17, 2022, 12:02 AM

by Senator Francis Tolentino

‘TOL VIEWS

Senator Francis N. Tolentino

Because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, global tourism suffered significant losses. International tourist arrivals in January to May 2020 decreased by as much as 56 percent compared to the pre-pandemic records of 2019. This reduction, according to an August 2020 report of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), translates to $910 billion to $1.2 trillion lost in exports from tourism. Similarly, 100 to 120 million direct tourism jobs are at risk of dissolution and 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) lost due to the widespread lockdowns and travel restrictions.

From the same UNWTO report, the Asia-Pacific Region suffered the greatest reduction in tourist arrivals at 60 percent, hence the need for a renewed and revitalized regional strategy for tourism recovery and sustainability. This pandemic has revealed the vulnerability of world economies – even those from more developed regions. Covid-19 exposed the inadequacy of our contingent planning and response capacity as no one could have perhaps foretold the depth and breadth of its impact. 

However devastated global tourism may be, hope for recovery remains high, especially in the light of the expected shift of Covid-19 from pandemic to endemic. With lesser restrictions on domestic and international travel, with accelerated vaccination rates in nearly all countries of the world, with heightened regional cooperation and partnerships to jumpstart tourism and economic engines, we can all hope to transform this health crisis into an opportunity for systems innovation and redesign in order to adapt to the demands of a post-pandemic tourism economy.

For the Philippines, it was projected that tourist arrivals 12 months after the pandemic will be at +9.7 percent, slightly above the average tourist arrivals data of the pre-pandemic years. Some of the figures for most Asian countries will remain on the negative axis when it comes to tourist arrivals and tourism revenue, but the brighter side of this trend is that 6 to 12 months after the end of the pandemic, the road to tourism recovery is clear. As with any other recovery phase in the aftermath of any crisis, the restoration of normalcy in the life of the people in the community will require re-assessment and re-designing of policies, plans, and programs in order to speed up rehabilitation.

Jumpstarting regional economy by strengthening regional tourism require policy response, not only to address the demands of a re-awakened tourism industry, but as well as to meet current and emerging needs. Enabling legislation shall be a crucial element in establishing a more adaptive tourism economy – one that will be vibrant, diverse, and inclusive. Sustainable tourism will entail expanded collaboration not only among national governments, but as well as building partnerships with private and non-government sectors.

The future of the country’s tourism shall be largely shaped by the policy response of today. An integrated regional tourism policy for the Asia Pacific Region will be essential as the policies and actions of one country may have implications on the policies and actions of another.