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Sustainable tourism recovery

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A recent report of the International Labor Organization showed that five countries – namely Brunei, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – lost a third or roughly 1.6 million tourism-related jobs last year.

ILO said employment losses in tourism were four times greater than in non-tourism sectors. Reduced working hours were also two to seven times bigger than employees not related to tourism.

In the Philippines alone, a 28.4 percent decline was recorded among the 5.1 million tourism jobs in 2020. This figure is significantly higher compared to the eight percent drop in jobs in non-tourism related sectors. Tourism related employment in the country accounts for almost 12 percent of total jobs in the country.

ILO Asia-Pacific regional director Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa said the impact of the pandemic on tourism has been nothing short of catastrophic. “Even with countries in the region focusing heavily on vaccinations and designing strategies to slowly reopen borders, jobs and working hours in the tourism-related sector are likely to remain below their pre-crisis numbers in Asia Pacific countries into next year,” she noted.

ILO said that employment losses were especially strong for women in the Philippines. Further, working-hour losses in tourism are well above those estimated for other sectors. Hour losses reached 38 percent in the Philippines, the highest among the five countries. Workers in the sector working zero hours per week rose 2,000 fold, affecting 775,000 workers in the country.

ILO senior economist and lead author Sara Elder said the pandemic has invited a “rethink” of medium and long term tourism strategies, bringing an opportunity to align the sector toward a more resilient, human-centered future.

As nations start the journey to recovery, this is a future workers in the badly-affected tourism industry should be able to look forward to. As government helps this critical industry get back on its feet, it should take every opportunity to ensure that recovery is sustainable for all stakeholders, most especially the millions of workers who, if given the right conditions, can power our country’s tourism to recovery and the greater heights that await those who are properly equipped and prepared.*

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