Hardly no one in the tourism sector was spared by the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with most expecting heavy losses for the year, results of the Philippine Tourism Survey: COVID-19 Edition conducted by Isla Lipana & Co./PwC Philippines (PwC).
Majority also said they need funding to restart.
The survey on conducted in May among 247 decision makers in the industry showed 97 percent of the tourism players COVID-19 has the potential for significant impact on their business operations, and is causing them great concern.
Some 88 percent of the respondents expect losses of over 50 percent of their 2020 revenues due to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) that took effect between mid-March to end May.
Only 21 percent said they expect their businesses to normalize within six months and a greater proportion of 42 percent expec to normalize up to a year.
Isla Lipana/PwC said such findings are worrying because the tourism industry contributed 12.7 percent of the country’s GDP in 2019, representing a direct contribution of P2.48 trillion and provided 5.71 million jobs in the same year or 3.5 percent of the country’s total employment
To help recover from the pandemic, 78 percent of the respondents say they need up to P5 million in additional funding to help normalize their operations. Majority say they need such funds for working capital requirements, marketing fund to rebuild their brands, and refinancing.
An overwhelming majority of 73 percent plan to obtain funds from government sources in the next three to six months and 42 percent from banks.
Alexander Cabrera, PwC Philippines chairman and senior partner, is optimistic the tourism sector will recover from the impact of COVID-19 but noted the lull is an opportunity to rebuild the sector “by helping the players upskill and digitalize, rethink the way they do business, and ensure compliance with safety and health standards.”
He said medical tourism and agri-tourism may be among the programs that the country can prioritize to help restart the sector.
The Philippine Tourism Survey: COVID-19 Edition is PwC’s collaboration with he Department of Tourism.