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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tourism crucial to PH economic recovery—Leni

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Presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo held an online meeting with stakeholders in the tourism sector where she underscored tourism as an industry essential to the country’s economic recovery.

The meeting, called Usapang Turismo Kasama si Leni, was attended by representatives from 63 tourism organizations and companies.

“In the context of the Philippines, tourism is an essential industry because many communities are dependent on it,” Robredo said.

The event, organized by the Turismo para kay Leni and the Robredo People’s Council (RPC), had 332 participants over Zoom and more than 13,000 views on Facebook.

It is the ordinary people working in the industry who need help the most especially after the pandemic had practically put tourism to a halt, the Vice President said.

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“When the flights were canceled and lockdowns were imposed, how many lives were also put to a halt?” the Vice President said.

Robredo said that measures to alleviate the impact of the pandemic and other crises must be institutionalized, such as her Hanapbuhay para sa Lahat Plan, which would provide unemployment insurance to affected workers.

The program will help businesses as well, as Robredo said it will mitigate the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic.

In her message, Robredo outlined her plans for the sector, such as improving infrastructure, investment in the retooling and upskilling of human resources, developing a culture of safety, upgrading MSMEs in the tourism value chain, greener tourism, and strengthening the capacity of local governments for planning and implementation through assistance from the national government, to ensure that the tourism industry benefits their host communities.

“If you develop the local tourism capacities, you also think in terms of how will the local community benefit from the tourism industry that’s in their locality?” said Robredo.

John Francis Abelgas of Traveletz, Inc. said it was emotionally uplifting to hear the Vice President’s plan for the industry.

“I firmly believe that she can execute her plan of institutionalizing crisis management units, equally in every LGUs by empowering and capacitating tourism offices through government and private partnerships. She did this through her Angat Buhay, Angat Kabuhayan Projects. This will really boost traveler or consumer confidence which will attract more tourists [and] will provide economic benefits,” Abelgas said.

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