Boracay shutdown to wipe out P56B in revenue, 36,000 jobs

The impending closure of prime tourist destination Boracay Island may result in at least P56 billion in foregone revenues and render 36,000 people jobless, stakeholders said Thursday.

The stakeholders which include Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA), Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), Tourism Congress Association of the Philippines, and Boracay Foundation are now seeking for a dialogue with the government.

What they want is to be given ample time to prepare for the closure of the island resort.

The closure will wipe out P56 billion in tourism receipts if the shutdown happens from March to December, they said, citing data from Department of Tourism during the first nine months of 2017.

Apart from foregone revenues, at least 36,000 people will lose their jobs, the stakeholders claimed.

The government intends to close the island for an environmental cleanup.

Figures provided by the Boracay Foundation showed there are more than 17,000 people who will be directly affected by the total closure of business, including employees of hotels, resorts, restaurants, dive shops, souvenir shops, tour activity centers, and transport providers.

Around 19,000 people also work in the informal sector such as beach masseurs, tattoo artists, and vendors, the number showed.

"What we are looking for is a general dialogue between the government and the stakeholders... Just give us a timeline. At least give us a year. You announce it [the closure] tomorrow, March 23, give us until March 23, 2019," Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) president Jose Clemente III said.

"From the side of us, the tour operators, our programs with our partners abroad are one year in the making. What we are saying: Give us an ample time. One year is the most doable," Clemente added.

For her part, Organization of Hotel Sales and Management Professionals president Christine Ibarreta said around 11 hotels claimed that they will lose P50 million each if the one year closure will push through.

"And this is only our members. Those who are operating small hotels are not yet included," Ibarreta said.

She added that the impending closure plan is causing uncertainties among their clients, especially foreigners who have already booked ahead.

Proposed solutions

Boracay stakeholders proposed the following measures to be undertaken to rehabilitate the island back to its pristine condition:

• Allow 60 days (April to May) for the island's stakeholders to undertake individual rectification, cleanup and rehabilitation of their respective properties
• Only the properties/entities found to have violated environmental and zoning regulations are to be closed.
• An assessment of workable solutions/remedies put into place by the stakeholders to be undertaken by the government agencies concerned prior to the end of the 60-day allowance.

The stakeholders added that if the mentioned efforts are not enough, "only then the closure will be effected."

"If timelines are followed, said closure to happen in June 2018, in time for the so-called low/Habagat season," the stakeholders said.

"In the meantime, a firm and concrete plan must be created with timelines, desired outcomes and responsible agencies/entities and budgets clearly identified," it added. —VDS/KG, GMA News