THE Marcos administration will greatly benefit from the “revenge tourism” that started under the outgoing Duterte administration, the lead convenor of the Safe Travel Alliance said in a forum on Wednesday.
Dr. Maria Cherry Lyn Rodolfo said at the 2022 Midyear business economic briefing entitled “New Administration, New Economy: The Philippines after May 9 and Covid-19” that with most countries and especially provinces in the country shifting to looser restrictions, people had a chance to travel after being holed up at the height of the pandemic.
“Many people rushed to end their isolation, that is why tourism grew and continues to grow,” she said.
Rodolfo also said that as restrictions eased, with many parts of the Philippines being placed under Alert Level 1, Filipino families, who were forced to stay in their homes for two years, got a chance to have a change of their surroundings.
“It was good for the mental health of the Filipino traveler,” she said.
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Revenge tourism or revenge travel is a phenomenon that has people, who are tired of mundane everyday routines due to lockdowns, rush to travel to nearby destinations for short breaks.
Rodolfo added that while international travel is starting to gain ground, the Philippine tourism industry is heavily relying now on the domestic travel.
“Domestic growth is busy nowadays. Domestic tourism has been the backbone of tourism even before Covid and now after. It is the catalyst for the rebound in the industry,” she said.
Among the top destinations include Boracay and Palawan.
The majority of the local travel destinations are located in Central Visayas.
“The top destinations are Central Visayas. You have Cebu, Bohol [and] Siquijor,” she said, adding that Region 4-A or Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) also experienced growth in the tourism industry, being near the National Capital Region, the nearest getaway.
She said that the Marcos administration should simply sustain the growth by maintaining the proper health protocols across the country to maintain a low Covid-19 count.
This is even if the nation is experiencing an upward tick in cases.
“For me, I consider tourism under the Marcos administration to be promising because we have many opportunities right now,” she said.
She also said that to boost the tourism industry further, the help of the local government is needed to improve the infrastructure and the tourist spots to make it accessible and an easy destination.
“The help of the LGUs (local government units) is greatly needed,” she said.
This, according to Rodolfo, is the reason why they see the appointment of Liloan, Cebu Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco as tourism secretary is a great asset and good decision for the Marcos administration.
“She is a local chief executive. She knows what is needed to boost the tourism of each LGU. And the LGU support is the key to further boost domestic tourism in the country,” she said.
“There should be national and local development like transportation and public works because institutions are needed for tourism spots. We welcome the incoming secretary, who has extensive experience in local governance which is critical,” Rodolfo added.
