Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 25) — Home to numerous beaches and other attraction sites, Palawan had lost hundreds of billions in pesos in tourism due to travel restrictions in light of the coronavirus pandemic, said Governor Jose Alvarez on Thursday.
“Ang total revenue natin dito sa turismo na nawala kasama ang Puerto Princesa City ay kulang-kulang ₱150 billion. Yung ang nagpapaikot ng ekonomiya ng Palawan. Eh kung mawawala yun nang tuluyan at maga-apat na buwan na tayong naka-medyo heightened alert?,” the official explained in the regular Laging Handa briefing.
[Translation: The total revenues we lost in tourism, including Puerto Princesa City, is more or less ₱150 billion. It keeps Palawan’s economy running. What would happen if we will be on heightened alert for nearly four months already and we actually lose it (tourism) completely?]
Alvarez added that unlike Boracay, Palawan cannot open its doors to tourism yet as the province is very wide and its sites are spread out, making it hard to manage. Boracay had reopened on June 16 to tourists from Western Visayas, with minimum health standards in place.
However, the official assured that the province is ready to bring back tourism activities, adding it is just waiting for the national government’s go signal.
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“After June 30, we will have an announcement together with the national (government’s) announcement na kung pwede na tayo magbubukas dahan-dahan para naman syempre eh matugunan natin lahat yung health protocols at yung si Mr. COVID ay ma-minimize natin yung epekto sa mga population natin, sa business at tsaka dun sa ating total ekonomiya kasi gusto din namin maka-contribute sa national economy, ” said Alvarez.
[Translation: After June 30, we will have an announcement along with the national government’s announcement on whether we will be allowed to slowly open up so that we can address all health protocols and minimize Mr. COVID’s effect on our population, businesses, and total economy because we want to contribute to the national economy, too.]
Alvarez added that the province might only be accommodate local travellers for the meantime should tourism be allowed again.
“In the next ten years, sana umabot uli kami ng 5 million tourists. From 2 million kami ngayon eh. Yung 5 million tourists, that is almost three times revenue nating ₱150 billion. That is the economy of Palawan,” he added.
[Translation: In the next ten years, hopefully we will be able to host 5 million tourists. Our latest figure is 2 million. 5 million tourists will bring in almost three times our ₱150 billion revenue.]
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Local and international travel bans aimed to curb the spread of the coronavirus forced local tourist spots to cease operations earlier this year.
