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By Rome Jorge, Life & Times Writer
Business in Boracay is humming. A month before
February, the start of the peak season for foreign tourists, the
country’s premier resort island is already awash with American,
Asian and European visitors. According to the Department of Tourism
(DOT), as early as December 30 last year, five of the island’s
seven most upscale resorts were booked solid.
Wave upon wave of tourists has been heading to
the country’s beaches well before the tsunamis on December 26
slammed into beaches around Southeast Asia—23 percent more than
the arrivals in 2003, according to the DOT. The upswing began in
March 2004.
With tourism infrastructure and natural
attractions in prime locations in India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Maldives, Myanmar, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Thailand devastated,
inquiries about switching to the Philippines as a destination have
swamped travel agencies.
Americans made up the bulk of visitors for 2004,
but were overtaken by Koreans and Japanese during the last quarter
of that year. Koreans sustained the tourism industry during its low
point when the Abu Sayyaf and the SARS epidemic hogged the
headlines. For the tourism industry, such news could be fatal.
Despite the rising number of arrivals, the
government is careful to avoid linking any growth in tourism to the
tsunamis. “We do not want to connect the increase in visitors to
the calamity that hit our neighbors. We will just proceed with the
tourism programs we carried out even before the disaster struck,”
the President’s spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said in a radio
interview.
According to Eleanor Ng of the Philippine Tour
Operators’ Association (Philtoa), any additional influx of
tourists as a result of the tsunamis will be felt by late May, since
tours are booked in advance. In a press release by DOT, Philtoa
president Leo Picaso said, “What we are getting now [in terms of
increased inquiries and rerouted tourists] as a result of the
catastrophe in Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and other countries are
additional only to whatever we have projected this year.”
Leona Nepomuceno from the Office of Tourism
Information stresses that the DOT will maintain current marketing
efforts for 2005. The highly successful WOW campaign, which
increased local tourism by 100 percent, will be retained.
Still, the DOT recognizes the windfall the
tsunamis have brought to Philippine tourism and on January 5
published a press release entitled “Tourists flocking to RP
resorts after tsunamis.”
Damage and recovery
The effect of the tsunamis on Philippine tourism
is proportional to the extent of the devastation and the recovery
time of affected areas. Locations such as Thailand’s Phuket and
Phi Phi suffered catastrophic damage. Other prime tourist
destinations such as Indonesia’s Bali and Malaysia’s Langkawi
were for the most part unscathed.
Although the speed with which destroyed
structures such as public services, hotels and resorts are rebuilt
hinges on capital available from governments, investors and
entrepreneurs, there is no rushing the time it takes for nature to
heal. From pristine white sand beaches to vibrant coral reefs to
exotic mangrove forests, the environment is the whole point of being
there for divers, beachcombers and nature lovers.
Ghislaine Llewellyn, marine scientist for the
World Wildlife Fund, explains: “Massive wave energy can result in
significant breakage of delicate and branching corals and
overturning of larger coral heads.” “The impact of man-made
debris washing out to sea is that it can also damage corals and
mangroves by physically colliding with them as flood waves drain
back from the land into the ocean. Another major impact of tsunamis
is the smothering of living coral by mud deposited by the receding
floodwaters.”
If sea currents do not wash off the debris, the
corals die.
Though the tsunamis may benefit Philippine
tourism, key bottlenecks impede the flow of tourists.
Local airfare is steeply priced. Pedro Young,
director of tourism for Marsman Tours and Travel Corp., also notes,
“There isn’t enough seating capacity.” Alan Canizal, DOT
director for planning and product development, clarifies,
“Airlines have not fully used their route agreements and
entitlements. The airline industry is market-driven.”
Ng thinks tourism could benefit from opening up
the airline industry.
Young laments that facilities often fall short
of tourist expectations; many provincial airports lack running water
and some have shabby toilets.
To be fair, he says that today’s provincial
airports are a vast improvement from those of five years ago. But he
also notes trash is also often thrown at roadside cliffs, even at
such scenic routes as the one to Banaue.
Canizal explains that the DOT can only draft
standards and check up on complaints; carrying out standards rests
upon the local governments.
Most troubling of all, Young says, is that many
foreign tourists look for authentic native culture only to have
their hopes disappointed. “There aren’t enough resorts with
native architecture. And nobody wears sarong,” he says. Though
certain hotels have cultural shows and costumes for their staff,
these pale besides other destinations abroad where native culture is
not a show but a practical lifestyle.
Many other countries have coral reefs, white
sand beaches and friendly people; the unique selling proposition of
any country is its culture.
Last year, many local governments came up with
new fiestas to draw attention to their provinces. Last year’s
Panagbenga, Baguio’s eight-year-old flower festival, featured
nothing more than Sex Bomb and Bayani Agbayani tunes and floats for
commercial endorsers. Little if any featured authentic indigenous
Ifugao culture.
Though Boracay has many Italian, Indian and
Spanish-themed restaurants, none feature Visayan cuisine and
culture. Canizal says the DOT, together with the National Commission
for Culture and the Arts, will now provide technical support and
advice to local governments in their cultural efforts.
According to the DOT, the county expects to draw
6 million tourists this year. Canizal notes that the lack of
kidnappings and terrorist attacks has enhanced the country’s
esteem among foreigners.
Ng foresees Russian tourists to dramatically
increase this year. “Those who did their marketing can expect an
increase this year,” she says.
Playing down the windfall
Rolando G. Estabillo, vice president for
corporate communications of the flag carrier Philippine Airlines,
plays down the windfall expected from rising tourist arrivals
brought about by the December 26 catastrophe.
Estabillo says the tsunamis that struck India,
Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Seychelles, Somalia,
Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand could even be a “disincentive”
for the local travel and tourism industry. “People may even have
to hold off their travel plans owing to this natural disaster,” he
says.
“People may look at visiting the Philippines,
but there has been neither any indication nor a signal” of a
windfall of tourists coming in, he says.
He emphasizes that PAL has no plans of “riding
on the misery” of its Asian neighbors. “And it may also take a
while for tourists to recover from the trauma.”
Right after the outbreak of the severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Asia, tourists thought twice before
considering traveling, Estabillo says.
He cites a report quoting Don Birch, Abacus
president and chief executive, as saying that “the impact on
travel and tourism in coastal holiday destinations that suffered
extensive damage from tsunamis is likely to be significant in the
short term as infrastructure is rebuilt and traveler confidence
returns.”
Abacus is a global tourism company specializing
in Asian tours. It recently reported significant drops in its
bookings for Sri Lanka and Thailand in the wake of the December
disaster. It said bookings dropped by as much as half, although it
is optimistic about a recovery.
For Estabillo, “Everything will depend on how
the whole world will recover from the aftermath of the
tsunami—particularly those from European countries. But we will
see how the tsunami will have an impact on the local airline
industry in the next few months. We will also continue to promote
the Philippines as a tourist destination.”
Cebu Pacific Philippines takes a more realistic
outlook, saying the local airline and tourism industry have an
opportunity to absorb the displaced tourists from Thailand and other
tsunami-stricken countries. Bong Mojica, Cebu Pacific’s general
manager, said the airline’s partner hotels have reported a
significant number of tourist transfer from Thailand to key tourists
spots like Cebu and Bohol.
“We have been increasing the Filipinos’
awareness of the country’s key tourist destinations by offering
fun tours, which cater to different individuals and groups’
interest, to induce domestic tourism,” Mojica says.
But he stresses that the airline industry still
needs to work closely with the local government units and tourism
officials in promoting the Philippines.
“Awareness among Filipinos of the key
destinations and tourist attractions in the Philippines is often a
problem encountered when promoting the tourism industry,” Mojica
says.
“We have the best beaches compared with our
neighbor countries. Unfortunately, what has always been highlighted
in the press is the negative news about us, which drives away
foreign tourists.”
He says security will always be an issue, but
this is not exclusive to the Philippines, because other countries
also have security hot spots.
“But the local tourism stakeholders and the
media will need to sell the country’s good points to encourage
foreign visitors to enter the country. The local tourism
stakeholders should also do their share in shaping up the tourism
industry by setting up the right and adequate infrastructure to
house and service foreign guests, and the quality and level of
service, among others,” Mojica says.
--With Paul Anthony A. Isla
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