The tourism scene in the Philippines will be “vastly different” once travel activities will again be allowed as part of post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) measures, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.
The “new normal” would involve enforced health security standards for both tourists and personnel, including the “re-training” of tourism workers, Romulo-Puyat stressed.
In a Go Negosyo virtual forum, the tourism chief said the capacity of air and land transports is also expected to be reduced.
“Safety would be the paramount concern of most, if not all our visitors.”
“In the past food, culture, and immersion were among the primary influences behind a traveler’s choice of destination. Moving forward, safety would be the paramount concern of most, if not all our visitors. There’s no going back to the way things were, we are all going to have to accept the new normal in travel,” the tourism head emphasized.
She said the DOT will propose more measures such as regular disinfection of accommodations and transport services as well as providing tourism workers with personal protective equipment.
Among others, the DOT will recommend an online system to facilitate tourism-related transactions.
While the world adjusts to the “new normal”, Romulo-Puyat said the Philippines will focus on attracting local tourists and short-haul markets such as those from Southeast Asian nations.
“With the confidence to travel at a low point, let us capitalize on the low-hanging fruit within our borders while the rest of the world slowly regains its footing.”
“By tapping into our domestic and short-haul markets through effective targeted marketing, we can bypass some of the considerable challenges we face following this pandemic. With the confidence to travel at a low point, let us capitalize on the low-hanging fruit within our borders while the rest of the world slowly regains its footing,” she said.
Tourism Congress of the Philippines president Jose Clemente III agreed that domestic tourists are the “first segment of travelers” to go once measures are eased.
“As confidence grows with regard to flights and as destinations start to ease their restrictions as well, then that’s when we can probably start looking at more wide-scale domestic travel. But to be realistic about it, we don’t see that happening for another few months,” Clemente said.
He said the country needs to build up the confidence of travelers to just get on the plane and get protocols in place.
“We have to make sure that the destinations themselves are already prepared to take in domestic tourists. In essence, the domestic travelers will be the guinea pigs so to speak for the international market later on,” Clemente added.
For Mink Metmowlee, president of the ASEAN Tourism Association, countries should join hands in marketing the member states of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as “one.”
“Every tourism boards should promote and show what other Asean destinations has already done by creating a system about the new normal that we call… and that we have the same standard in ASEAN,” Metmowlee said.