Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said Wednesday, April 28, that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the tourism revenue in Western Visayas to drop by -82.55 percent.
Tourism revenue in Western Visayas dropped to P22.9 billion in 2020 from P131.4 billion, she said in a virtual press conference.
She said 5.8 million tourists visited Western Visayas in 2019 but the pandemic caused the number to drop to 1.1 million last year.
“The Department of Tourism is here to help all of you. The mandate of the DOT is to promote tourism but we sought ways to give financial assistance to those who lost their jobs and to provide loans (to businesses) at zero interest rates,” she said.
The DOT “will continue to promote to make sure we can restart tourism but the priority is the health and safety of all,” Puyat said.
Puyat thanked the country’s lawmakers for allocating P3.1 billion in financial aid to those working in the tourism industry who have been provided P5,000 each in assistance.
The secretary said P6 billion has also been allocated for businesses payable in four years at zero interest and zero collateral, with a one year grace period before payment starts.
She said 5.7 million people work in the country’s tourism industry but because of the pandemic 4.8 million jobs have been affected.*