Skift Take
As the Southeast Asian country that depends the most on tourism, the Philippines will have to work doubly hard to shed its underachiever image in the post-pandemic world.
Of all the major Southeast Asian destinations, the Philippines appears the worst-hit by the pandemic.
The country, despite being one of the earliest tourism players in the region and blessed with beautiful beaches and unique culture, has never managed to rub shoulders with neighbors that have grown arrivals to massive levels. Top on the list is Thailand, with 40 million arrivals in 2019, followed by Malaysia with 26 million and Singapore, 19 million. But the Philippines drew just eight million arrivals while Vietnam, a relative newcomer, passed the 18 millionth visitor mark.
While it cuts the smallest pie among the top Southeast Asia destinations, the Philippines is most dependent on tourism of them all. Tourism accounts for a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 20 percent for Thailand and 6 percent for Indonesia, according to tourism consultancy Pear Anderson.
Thus, while arrivals in Thailand and the Philippines last year shrunk at about the same level, down 83 and 84 percent, respectively, the Philippines suffered higher job losses of between five and six million in 2020. That's a lot more than Thailand's two to four million, as estimated by industry players in the two countries.
“The Philippines is suffering. Tourism is a solid foreign exchange earner and increasing numbers of the population are directly or indirectly dependent on tourism. With strict border closures and other measures taken by the government, this source of income has run dry,” said Stephan Roemer, CEO of Diethelm Travel Group, which operates Blue Horizons Travel & Tours in the Philippines.
Closures
The closure of two prominent hotels, the Marco Polo Davao in June last year and the 700-room Makati Shangri-La Manila last month, alt
