Taal eruption impact on hotel market may be offset in other areas

MANILA, Philippines — The eruption of the Taal Volcano is seen to have a negative impact on the Philippine hotel market in the near term, but may be offset by higher occupancy in other areas in the country, according to property consultancy firm Colliers International.

“It is likely to have a negative impact in the near term,” Colliers International Philippines research manager Joey Roi Bondoc told The Star when asked on the impact of the Taal Volcano eruption on the hotel market.

For instance, Bondoc said some business meetings and events scheduled to be held in Tagaytay were cancelled due to the current situation.

He added that some events may have been moved to other locations, such as the bay area in Manila in particular.

“In the near term, we expect lower hotel occupancy and this is likely to affect retail establishments such as souvenir shops in the area,” Bondoc said.

However, Bondoc said the higher hotel occupancy in other areas of the country is expected to offset the negative impact on the Tagaytay hotel market.

“So while we might see lower hotel occupancy in Tagaytay and nearby areas in the short term, we see this being offset by slightly higher occupancy in Metro Manila and hotels near popular sites in northern and central Luzon,” Bondoc said.

Bondoc cited data from the Department of Tourism(DOT) that tourism in Tagaytay is driven by the domestic tourism market, with 65 percent of Tagaytay tourists coming from Metro Manila.

“The domestic tourists might look for other options in the near term - either a ‘staycation’ within Metro Manila or look for other sites in Northern and Central Luzon provinces such as Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, and Pangasinan which are easily accessible via NLEX and SCTEX. About the same travel time from Manila to Tagaytay,” he said.

Bondoc expressed hope that the situation in the Taal Volcano affected areas would normalize before the summer season as this is usually a peak season for Tagaytay and its peripheries.

At present, Taal Volcano remains under the alert level 4 warning by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), which means an eruption is imminent.

The DOT advised earlier all tourism enterprises operating in areas affected by the Taal Volcano eruption to immediately cease operations, in line with ensuring the safety of both tourists and tourism workers.

“The continued health, safety and welfare of our workers and tourists remain a top priority at this time as authorities have not downgraded the advisory on an imminent eruption,” the DOT said.

While some establishments continue to push for the resumption of their operations, the DOT called on tourism stakeholders in affected areas to strictly heed the advise of agencies handling the natural disaster.

“The DOT trusts that the local government unit, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC), and other concerned agencies will seek guidance from the DOST-Phivolcs to ensure the safety of our tourists and employees in their decision to resume operations in Tagaytay,” the DOT said.

Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) president Jose Clemente III also supported the DOT’s call for tourism establishments still operating in the vicinity of Taal Volcano to temporarily cease operations until the situation becomes more stable.

“At this point, the safety and well-being of workers and those still staying at these establishments is paramount,” Clemente said.

“We call on those establishments to cease operations in the meantime as we want to avoid any untoward incidents as a result of the an escalation in Taal Volcano’s activities,” he said.

The DOT said earlier that the tourism industry in the Calabarzon region, particularly in Tagaytay City, has suffered a tremendous setback from the eruption of the Taal Volcano.

“At this point in time, the DOT’s foremost concern is public safety including foreign and local tourists affected by this fortuitous event,” the DOT said.

“But just as it has demonstrated in the past, the DOT is hopeful that tourism in the area and the entire Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) region will prove resilient, and recover from this situation,” it said.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Tourism Undersecretary Arturo Boncato Jr. said tourism’s direct and indirect contribution to Tagaytay City’s economy amounted to around P1 billion in 2019.

Boncato said that in the first three quarters of 2019, Calabarzon  registered a total of 6.9 overnight visitors, 1.1 million of which were in Tagaytay City. In addition, day visitors in the region numbered to around 6.3 million in the same period.