“The nCoV and its Effects on the Philippines’ Tourism”

The Philippines is truly one country blessed with so many tourist destinations. But as of Jnuary
30, 2020, the Philippines, becomes one of the high-risk countries from the Wuhan, China. The World
Health Organization Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the novel
coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on
January 30, 2020. This is due to the accepted advice by the Director-General from the IHR Emergency
Committee which includes temporary recommendations for China, other countries and the global
community. Due to the outbreak, WHO emphasized the urgent need to coordinate international efforts
to investigate and better understand this 2019-nCoV, to minimize the threat in affected countries and to
reduce the risk of further international spread.

Despite from the declared global emergency outbreak, last February 6, 2020, Department of
Tourism Secretary, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that the tourism in the country will not be drastically
affected by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus amid fears that the outbreak of the virus from Wuhan, China
could slow down tourist arrivals in the country. The article “The nCoV and its Effects on the Philippines’
Tourism”, stated about the argument and persuasive act of the Department of Tourism that Philippines
is still safe for the travel destination to the travelers and other tourists. The DOT convinces the people to
believe their statements by stating the facts about the beauty of Cebu and Boracay and the suspended
flights from China by the Civil Aeronautics Board. Moreover, the DOT said that they are not going to
release a statement that are not true.

The author’s purpose for this article, is to state that the Philippines’ Department of Tourism is
very open for the travelers that want to come in the country, and concern about the economy of the
Philippines since the contribution of tourism to the Philippine economy was great. The title “The nCoV
and its Effects on the Philippines’ Tourism” was not good title for the article for the reason that there
were no exact effects stated to the tourism of the Philippines and the effects stated was for the tourism
agency itself but not for the true meaning of tourism in the country. This article may be treated as a
warning for the DOT and the government of the Philippines, that this global emergency outbreak must
be treated as serious case for the health of every Filipino as well as for the health of the government and
economy.
 The government must be aware and strictly follow the PHEIC outbreak for the safety of the
citizens in the country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the first case of novel
coronavirus in the Philippines was confirmed on January 30, 2020, in a 38-year old woman who arrived
from Wuhan and two days later the country recorded the first death outside China on February 1, 2020.
As of February 11, 2020 based on the Pharmaceutical technology, the Philippines has three confirmed
coronavirus infection cases.

The question arises is that how risky is coronavirus to the Philippines? Due to its proximity to
China, the country is at a far greater risk of witnessing increased cases of the virus compared to other
countries. The country also known as home to hundreds of workers from China working in the Philippine
Offshore Gambling Operation. And from the record, Chinese nationals account for the majority of the
tourist population visiting the country for the business trade and cultural relations that have been
increased between the two countries in the recent past.

The virus outbreak must be taken seriously by all the residents and citizens living in the country.
The Philippines government is taking several steps to control the spread of the virus, including travel
restrictions, closure of schools and colleges, as well as training schools of the Philippine National Police.
The government announced the all persons except Filipino citizens and permanent resident were
temporarily barred from entering the country in order to avoid the spread of the disease. From these
activities and precautionary measurements of the government, these will have great impact for the
tourism. Therefore, the tourism industry should be careful for their released statements. They should
cooperate and participate for the government’s actions about the outbreak of the virus. According to
WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “We are all in this together and we can only
stop it together”.