41% DROP IN FEB ARRIVALS

COVID-19 outbreak leaves tourism industry ‘bleeding’

Stakeholders of the Philippine tourism industry are now bleeding due to the global health scare coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with hotels opting to temporarily close down and air carriers incurring millions of losses.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said tourist arrivals have dropped 41% in February due to the outbreak.

Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) president Jose Clemente III on Wednesday said that with global travel bans, domestic tourism will not be able to offset losses incurred due to the decline in international tourist arrivals.

"It has not spared any of us in the industry whether you're a small company or one of the bigger tour operators or hotels. Not to exaggerate, we're bleeding already," he told reporters.

He was referring to COVID-19, with three confirmed cases in the Philippines so far -- one died, while the other two were able to recover.

"We have lower prices that's why we have to do the domestic packages but the objective now is just to survive until the situation gets better," said Clemente.

"There are already companies that have temporarily closed down, especially those that are serving the China market, because it's like a faucet we have to shut down so a lot of them have opted to temporarily close down," he elaborated.

Clemente noted that several businesses are now rethinking if they would resume operations once the situation improves, or they would close shop permanently.

"We're doing our best to survive during this time and as I mentioned, we're really pulling all the stops," he said. —LDF, GMA News