The Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) is confident the country’s tourism industry will regain its growth path once President Duterte decides to lift martial law in Mindanao.
At the same time, the group also called for a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the various issues currently affecting the industry.
PTAA President Marlene D. Jante said perception is the biggest concern right now, especially for those who have not been to the country yet.
“The mere mention of the words martial law can easily scare tourists away. But we understand and support the government in its actions in Mindanao. The problem in Marawi must be contained. But we know, as travel agents, that most of Mindanao and the rest of the country are safe destinations for tourists to enjoy,” Jante said.
“The country has seen worst situations in the past and, every time, our tourism industry has bounced back. We in the PTAA believe that the series of incidents over the past several weeks are just temporary setbacks,” she added.
Jante said the martial-law declaration is only expected to last 60 days since its proclamation on May 23, and that both the government and the private sector should come together to craft a short-term plan for the tourism industry covering the rest of the year and 2018.
This, as she expects that there will be a decline in tourist arrivals and receipts in May and in the current month, even as the country posted a healthy 12-percent growth in arrivals for the first quarter of the year as compared to the same period in 2016.
“This is the reason our association is currently conducting an internal survey among members. We want to see how the recent developments have impacted their respective businesses. This will be a good gauge on how the industry is performing,” she said.
Jante added they will be asking all their members to provide data over the past two months and assess how the travel advisories all the way to the time the Marawi siege erupted have affected their operations.
She said the data gathered and subsequent analysis will then be forwarded to the Department of Tourism (DOT), like the compiled inputs from its members it quickly submitted on the then- new “Experience the Philippines” campaign, which was later on criticized for being copied.
“There has always been a high level of communication and discussion between the PTAA and the DOT. We are more than glad to provide our inputs to them on anything related to the country’s tourism,” Jante said.
In April the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, France and New Zealand issued separate travel advisories advising their citizens not to travel to Central Visayas because of the existence of serious threat of kidnappings.
After a month, the US, Canada, the UK and Australia issued a second travel advisory, as they advised their citizens against traveling to Palawan because of potential terrorist activities.
Then there were the Marawi and Resorts World Manila incidents along with the flak the DOT received for its new tourism campaign.
“We do not want to add further to what has happened with the new tourism campaign because, to us, that is an issue that can be easily resolved. What we want is for every stakeholder in the industry to come together and chart a united path for the country’s tourism industry,” she said.
Jante remains confident that if everyone in the industry works together, the 6.50 million in tourist arrivals and 73.30 million domestic travelers targets by the government for the year remain achievable.
The PTAA, established in 1979, is the country’s biggest tourism association. With more than 500 members nationwide, it is the leading partner of the government in promoting the tourism industry.