Tourism revenue losses could reach P100-M due to airspace shutdown, says economist

The Philippines lost around P100 million in tourism revenues following the temporary shutdown of the country’s airspace due to a glitch in the air navigation traffic system of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), an economist said Monday.

According to Mav Gonzales’ report on “24 Oras”, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) Chief economist Michael Ricafort said the incident may hurt the country’s tourism sector which was hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Isa sa major growth driver ‘yan, moving forward, yung tourism. Kasi isa sila sa pinaka-tinamaan ng pandemic. Napakaraming related na negosyo at industriya na naka-rely sa turismo,” said Ricafort.

(Tourism, moving forward, is one of the major growth drivers. They are among the sectors hard hit by the pandemic and there are a lot of businesses and industries relying on it.)

“‘Yung transportation…They also shop, eat out. Mga restaurant. Mga retailers that would be possibly affected. ‘Yung supply chain ng tourism, dugtong-dugtong ‘yun eh,” he said.

(An example is the transportation sector… and tourists also shop, and eat out at restaurants. Retailers are also possibly affected. Tourism has a supply chain, they are all interconnected.)

Malacañang earlier said it is conducting a thorough probe into the incident in which at least 282 flights were canceled, diverted, or delayed on New Year's Day.

The technical problem also affected some 56,000 passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

“Kung na-traumatize sila medyo, eh may kompetisyon, may ibang bansa na pwede pagpilian na tourist destination. Baka maging konsiderasyon yun going forward kaya napaka-importante na seryosohin ito. Nandyan na 'yun eh. ‘Yung accreditation, ranking, recommendation, ratings,” Ricafort added.

(If the passengers were traumatized it may affect us. Because there’s competition with other countries that can be chosen as tourist destinations. The incident can be a consideration, going forward. So it’s vital we take this seriously. There is the accreditation, ranking, recommendation, and ratings.)

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said it had already activated its ground tourism personnel in various airports in the country to provide assistance to the affected passengers.

Senator Nancy Binay, the chairperson of the Senate Tourism Committee, likewise expressed concern on the incident and its effect on the tourism industry.

For his part, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the airspace shutdown would not affect the international rating of NAIA.

“‘Yung naging problema hindi naman problema ng paliparan ‘yan problema ‘yan ng Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines na sila ang naghahandle ng mga tinatawag po nating communication, navigational and surveillance air traffic management system so ito po ay kailangan ng airport sa buong Pilipinas at kailangan din ng koordinasyon ng airport sa ibang bansa kaya dapat po maayos natin itong sistemang ito,” Bautista said.

(The problem was not with airport but with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. They handle the communication, navigational, and surveillance air traffic management system and that’s what is being used in airports in the country. We also need coordination with other foreign nations so we have to fix the system.) -- Sundy Locus/BAP, GMA Integrated News