 Hi there! Welcome to Tourism Matters, a program that explores issues about tourism and why tourism is an important part of our lives. This is brought to you by UPAIT and TVUP. Tourism Matters tackle broad topics and are divided into three series. Number one, tourism policy and governance with a specific focus on issue on over-tourism. Number two, tourism education and human resource capacity. And number three, tourism industry, market and enterprise. We hope you find the series interesting, educational and fun. In this series, leading experts in tourism share their thoughts on over-tourism, a term that first appeared on social media in 2012 to denote the negative impacts of tourism and the social movements associated with host antagonism to too many guests. In episode two, Professor Will Cruz and Professor Giovanni Ligaspi of UPAIT explored the phenomenon of over-tourism in Boracay Island with location shooting to document firsthand the impacts of the closure of the island. Interviews with residents, business owners, local executives and tourists explain different perspectives on over-tourism and how this affect the lives of local communities. In February 2018, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte described Boracay as a cesspool and soon after declared the country's premier beach destination under state of calamity. The excessive numbers of tourists and visitors in Boracay led to a host of health and environmental problems. These, in fact, were cited by the government as a paramount concern for the immediate closure of the island. The island was closed to tourists from 26 April to 25 October 2018 in an effort to rectify problems accrued over decades of unbridled tourism growth and rampant violations of environmental and physical development of the island resort. This is true and, in fact, this bold step drew mixed reactions from the local residents, workers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders that incited lively debates about the implications for the tourism industry both at the local and national levels. So, what are the reasons and effects of over-tourism in Boracay? What were the immediate antecedents that led to the island's temporary closure? This episode will also discuss the efforts exerted by the government together with the private sector during the closure along with the planned interventions to prevent previous problems from reappearing. Boracay is an island off the northwestern tape of Aklan province in the municipality of Malay in the Philippines. The island is located 350 kilometers south of Manila with an area of 10.32 square kilometers. Three of Malay's 17 districts are situated in Boracay Island, Balabag, Manok Manok and Japa. The island is best known for its pristine white sand beach. And with this, over the years, government and the private sectors have featured Boracay heavily in tourism promotion campaigns which led to the influx of local and foreign tourists. As a result, tourism became established in Boracay and number of tourists and visitors increased by nearly 25 times from 1995 to 2017, rising from just about 81,197 visitors in 1995 to 2,1974 in 2017. With Boracay's popularity to many beachgovers, this island was named Travel Plus Leisure Magazine's best island in 2012 and was ranked the top island in the world in 2016 Condenas Travel Readers' Choice Award. As a result, tourism has drawn both investors and people seeking employment in the island. In 2017, Boracay generated 17,727 direct tourism jobs or about 66% of employment in the western Visayas region. In 2018, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council estimated about 17,328 local and foreign workers and 19,289 unregistered workers in Boracay. These all contributed to the tourism revenue in 2017, posting 56 billion pesos or more than a billion U.S. dollars. That's true. Over the years as tourism boomed in Boracay, over-tourism became imminent. This has been evident from the sheer number of tourists and the densely packed structures along the four kilometer stretch of White Beach. According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the island can only accommodate 6,405 tourists per day. However, daily arrivals during peak months would be at about 7,774 persons daily. The adverse effect of over-tourism in the island led to a host of health and environmental problems. These eventually led to the closure of the island as threat to the community, tourist, businesses and the economy became uncontrollable. The island water is contaminated with coliform bacteria. This bacteria found in human feces can cause various diseases including amibiasis, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, gastroenteritis and ear infection. And according to DNR of the 2,600 establishments in Boracay, 32% or about 834 were discharging wastewater directly to the sea, of which only 4% or about 118 had wastewater discharge permits. Several underground pipes were illegally discharging wastewater into the water and caused contamination of groundwater source in the island. Further, bacteria levels in the waters of Balabag Beach reached 47,460 per 100 ml which was 47 times the standard for recreational water safety. Over-tourism not only polluted the sea water and groundwater in the island, but also damaged the flora and fauna. Wetlands were even altered due to over-tourism. Wetlands provided protection to the island shores from wave action and preventing flooding. Construction around wetlands led to pollution of the wetlands, preventing water from flowing in and out of the island. Of the nine original wetlands on the island, five has disappeared. The remaining four wetlands are occupied by business establishments and illegal settlers. So in retrospect, since 1997, Boracay had already exceeded three of the six indicators of physical carrying capacity. Groundwater quality, groundwater quantity, marine water quality, land, sewage and solid waste. Moving forward, after more than two decades, the government and other stakeholders have put their acts together to resolve issues brought about by over-development and over-tourism in the island. Let us find out what our stakeholders think in this episode on over-tourism in Boracay. While growing up, we really saw the changes over time. So from what it started lang as parang ano lang siya, a haven for those parang mahilig sa high adventure like scuba diving. Those were the first na mga guests who really stays here. Tapos over time, dumadami na nang dumadami ang mga tao. Now everybody can afford to come and it's very accessible. So there's the boom. The buildings, the modernization came siguro mga ano na na sa 2003-2004. That's where it really started. Mga seven, eight years ago, we already had Russian markets. Tapos four years ago, Asian markets na. Kasi for them parang hindi na daw nila ma-feel yung paradise because of the over-population. You call that over-tourism. But as a local, yung coming from the heart of a local, parang we don't want to si Boracay na ganito ka dumay. The food chains came in like all of those fast food. So ang bad side niya is yung basura dumame. The solid waste dumame. And then eventually yung waste hindi na pa-proper dispose. Yes, the waste management was out of control. And then the agal bloom is one of the reasons kung bakit kami pinaklose. Parang ang kapal ng agal bloom and at night time if you walk, may distinct na siya na smell from the normal. Tapos sabi namin, this is salt water, pero bakit may mosquito? Of course, not until that we have been closed down and we saw those illegal pipes that are being connected and being threw out. Not just at the back beach, pero dito sa harap, some of them are from the from the toilet talaga. Not just the kitchen waste, but really from the anong. Tapos, they found out na yung drainage system that is supposed to be for the rain water and for the flood water. Doon din sila nag-connect. It has been corrected. It has been, the pipes are being moved one kilometer away from the shoreline, but before they can dispose, like this, we have these two service provider. And then before they can dispose, parang they have to have a result muna na class SB water. It's a swimming pool type na water that's very safe before nila ipalabas. Before nila i-discharge. And then, of course, after the closure, parang we are more conscious, we are more aware because of the warnings and siguro kuyong constant na rin guidance from the interagency and then constant na reminder for the stakeholders that now, parang we should be, we should take care more of the island supposed to be, or it should be that you are booked in a compliant accommodation because a compliant accommodation knows na na we follow this and we have to maintain this. There are no, may mga signage dyan sa labas. And then sila mismo they come in, they ask what are the dos and don'ts. So parang we are happy about it na sila aware din sila. We are now at Balabog beach. The area declared a successful by President Rodrigo Duterte. Despite the construction of the Boracay drainage system by Tiesa, this destination has been a popular site for wind and kite surfing enthusiasts. This area is also known as a dumping site for wastewater in the island of Boracay. Now the project of Tiesa is to rehabilitate the water of Balabog beach and move the pipes one kilometer away from the shore. We are now in the location of wetland number two in Barangay Balabag in the island of Boracay. Now it has become a Boracay wetland conservation park at the lopest group of companies. This is composed of the remaining endemic flora and fauna in the island of Boracay. This Boracay wetland conservation park includes birdwatch platform for people to appreciate and advocate biodiversity. We are now here at Mt. Luho View Deck one of the best areas where you can see the island of Boracay. From here you can see Barangay Manok Manok, Yapak, and Balabag. This area has been closed for tourists and locals. It has been found to violate a lot of regulations one of which will be for the protection and conservation of forest land. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources spearheaded the closure of this particular area. Nung bago kasi isinada ito may let's accept that there really is a problem with the environmental problem of the island. It is properly managed by the drainage and sewerage of the island. That is why the problem is in the island. That is why the president of our school saw the pollution but during the closure at nagsimula yung rehabilitation doon na correct na po yung problema at yung infrastructure ginawan ng national ng budget yung DPWAs para totalitang galin yung dating drainage system pininitan ng bago at mas malaki siya anagaro ng widening of the road at umbrai lahat yung batas natin sa environmental protection lalog lalo na yung STP natin yung sewerage connection talaga hinikpitan natin lahat yung biolator na yung natanga lahat yung ilegal connection at nabayan nang penalty. Maraming kategori kasi na yung mga laking result talaga na although nakakoneksin sa sewerage system pero may mga ibang ilegal connection so may mga maliliit na establishment ang ginawa CPT tank na lang napat may STP o may STP kan sarili ngayon pag walang clearance galing sa AMB sa part na SDO nating na tanggap mo sa pag-replugation naging naipit ko tayo doon pag closure at yan pa rin po yung interagency yan pa rin yung taba ko nila at yun na bago yung opening magpalabas tayo ng policy at karimian naman doon may mga existing local audience na so it's a matter of implementation na lang ko so in time ng opening ang dyan ako nabigat pero silin mula namin na implement na natin ang policy na nasyunar sa kayong local audience yung mga violators na nangyari kapatid nating mga maliliit yung vendors yung maso, yung commissioners yung maganon lang at ginagawantin ang paraan para magkabin sa yun na lumgabin nila para hindi magkalat sa 25-25 actually at natin dito isma implement mga national law sa kayong local ordinances natin at ang goal natin dyan magiging discipline zone yung rakaing lahat aware na may roda yung pakas na ganito na dapat to pa rin at yun ay mahingpit na ipinakutupad as the chief to recent operations officer of malay happy na rin po tayo lalong-lalong na sa risulta ng ating kasi during the closure doon po natin with the proper assessment nakailangan din talaga na dapat rehabilitate rin natin yung tao not only for the inframatter and of course the natural healing of our environment especially with our page na if ever kung nalilipil up na rin siya sa infra sa environmental matter pa rin yung quality service ng ating tourism frontliners so with the cooperation with the department of tourism we have our series of seminars, skills enhancement seminars na mga tourism frontliners natin from the tricycle driver moteman, mashors gindors lahat lahat po yun siya so alam naman natin na mayro naman talaga tayong mga pagkukulang before closure dapat kitama natin kasi nun nan jensi sand castle nan jensi fry dancers nan jan yung mga vendors natin so at least yun yung mga pagbabago na dapat talagang we have to preserve the shoreline area the coastline area if you're going to look into our economic side especially sa mga locals natin apitado parang naihirapan din at least ang importanti doon tataseng ikanamit natin preserving environment natin ang yung mga kaon natin is progress ang objective ng national natin it's a longer plan and for the system of sustainability ok naman po tayo doon well we went through our pre-opening phase early December 2017 and then of course the closure came April 2018 there was a good experience in the 4 months of the late 2017 early 2018 until the closure and it was brilliant it was really good in terms of occupancy income flow of guests it was brilliant the re-opening of the island by October 26 it was very slow the occupancy percentage picked up only end of December beginning of January to be honest with you and that is not to our potential the percentage that we are looking for now we can say that really we are back on track certainly the biggest lesson from the closure is for all establishments and all hotels and even the local government to have a sustained development plan in hand and should be communicated and should be respected I think it was a harsh decision but it was a good decision by the president to be honest with you many people may be were against it but I was one of the people who say yes of course it was a big challenge particularly the staff who were kind of effective because we kept all our staff on the payroll as they are for the whole duration of six months but of course we lost a portion of the training which we conducted during the first pre-opening we have some updates from the local government about the sewer line about the water treatment plants etc I am not sure if it was already concluded nonetheless the situation is much better than before actually we were a little bit worried that the pickup might take a bit longer but thank God it really picked up even before the closure we were one of those hotels who implemented certain areas for sustainable environment for the entire island as we say it's a group effort it's between us as individual stakeholders and the government personal lesson is that to comply with whatever local government regional government or the national requirement in terms of building code in terms of CP standards etc but the closure brought the people together we started to talk together more we started to meet each other more because the goal was the same and anything happened it will affect everybody so everybody was standing together before the closure things were actually great we were really receiving a lot of good feedback good traffic especially it was our peak season and then when we heard about the news of the closure of course kami, we couldn't believe it our first problem was how paniyong stocks namin and also one of the biggest ones were the employees because some of our employees have been with us since the beginning of the business what we did sa mga employees namin we still supported them so what happened was when it really closed the first was panic of course after the first month what happened was no revenue passing by it was just the locals here it became stagnant so we had to stock everything up here in happy planet things became slow but nung nag open sobran laka we weren't expecting that much influx from people so akong damin ng tao yung tao namin hindi masupply yung kailangan ng mga customers namin so we were under staff that was one of the biggest challenges we had to face we're slowly getting back on our feet and as of now we're doing great actually that's all I could say with what has been happening we are currently running these operations for the past four years what did we all experience during the closure with me and my staff it was very sudden it was like a thief in the night but us locals and islanders we've been waiting for it all along we've been wanting it actually and tatay digong gave it to us and in fact to tell you the truth it's a blessing in disguise since like the islanders like me and like most of the people around here they realize na sabi nila ano ba yan andumi sa bulabog andumi sa beach look at the guest wala pake alam yung turista wala pake alam eh ngayon maglakad ka ngayon sa borakay makikita mo yung tindig ng tao pag nagiyosi yung nahandun yung sense of urgency nila and pagmamahal sa isa malasakit yan nga ikang malasakit that's what the closure has taught us well for my staff what I did personally because I would treat them like family we subsidized them during the closure actually it's positive because number one nabawasan yung kalat sa beach nabawasan yung excess activities but 80% of our staff all of our savings went to the staff because they are our investment they are our people we have to take care of them even though na maasa sila ng subsidy sa government sabi ko go sige pila lang kaya ng pila pero kami kung kaya magalala sweldoan ka namin ka and their loyalty and their respect is there so during the closure we were all here during the hearing me and my father especially my father Boyetsak Dalan we were here in the island co-operating with the DNR and the task force I also proposed to the local government to have a short video upon entry upon entry on the bankas like a one or two minute video saying this is the do's and don'ts educate them there's no problem well the best lesson for the six months well Boracay is the spearhead of tourism in the Philippines that's my opinion okay Boracay is an example and what happened to Boracay it shouldn't happen to the rest it should be an example to everyone and to our like us stakeholders to be responsible it starts with us it starts with the citizens the islanders yes more than ten years na po ako nalto tour guide ako po isang Department of Tourism Accredited Tour Guide based here in Boracay and during closure at first napakalaking adjustment binawa ko personally because ang una um well wala kami source of income kawa nang seng wala naman guest no and um so ang binawa namin that time is um wala kami naman alternative ways wala kami magkaran ng source of income like um nang una si may malikaming space sa little or nang wala kami mga back yard naman ang back yard gaden yung likod ba'y namin and nagtanimdibidon ng mga first usual mga gula or vegetables like hankong sitaw and delights ang good thing about the closure naman is the OT reduces were very supportive naman to all stakeholders just like uh particularly sa mga tour guides pasinga nagtandaksin ng mga series of seminars just to enhance or polish our skills specifically ang customer service seminars anti-terrorism workshops and delights so I'm very time-full for that in a way naging positive at this time bakto normal na rin tayo bakto business usual na kasi nag-open na rin yung burak ay life last October 26 and marami talaga nang changes na nangyari not just yung safe or swimming na yung beach malinis na siya mas dumami na yung mga guest namin not just local but mostly foreign tourists personally mas dumami yung a ming client mas dumapad yung a ming networks kasi mas mga ming naganos sa a ming nag-indoors yung iba parang madipresila because of the closure kasi nga ola kalagang source of income or ola silang financial yung hindi stable yung nila hindi sila financial stable kailang mag-resilient lang talaga during the closure nagkarong kami ng enough time lahat so we were able to train and to attend to all the trainings that was provided by the Department of Tourism parang walang nasayang na panahon nag-set kami ng meetings para magkaroon kami ng mga programs like yung clean up during the closure nagkaroon po ng standard lahat kailangan may permit lahat compliant na kung ikaw ay compliant ang talag dito yung services mo na magibibigay sa visita is yung dapat yung standard talaga we are thankful for the closure pero siyempre hindi mo rin maiwawaglit sa isip mo na yung closure meron talagang effect financially, sa trabaho pero kung when you think about it as a whole talagang for the good siya for the better actually for the best ng gurakay lesson learned is that masusabi ko talaga na if you're a compliant company organization lahat ng pwede yung maibigay ng gobierno when it comes to all the support ikaw talaga ang unang makakasalot noon? Of course na walang kami ng business for six months but the advantage beyond that sa nangyari we had a chance to retrain our people in coordination with DOT in some of the government agencies nag-provide sila ng mga seminars for enhancement to mga frontliners namin and on our part it's also a chance for us to do maintenance work on our equipment at siya naman the government assisted us sa mga pangaylangan ng mga tao namin yung iba nagdegay sila ng cash for work projects and DSWD maganda po kasi nangyari kasi makita niyang ngayon napakaganda ng burakay hindi kagayano na very crowded lalo sa gabi, pag makita niyo talagang crowded pero ngayon makita niyo napakalinis na ng beats walang niningarillyo wala mga Seattle violators kasi kasi iti enforce namin very extensively ang mga ordinances meron po kami project ngayon na gawin discipline zone sabi nga ng inter-aged burakay inter-aged agency task force no compliance no operation ganon din ang sabi ng DOT sa mga PTE mga primary tourist establishments no accreditation no operation so yung po ang ini enforce namin ito po ang project best kasi pinagdisapun namin ang mga PNP tapos ang malayok sila pulis at ang beats guards composite po yan dinibahit po namin ng front beats in four sectors each sector meron po dalawang PNP dalawang beats guard, dalawang trio at dalawang map posted po yan sa mga lugar kung saan ang maraming congregations ng mga visita yung in-apply namin steps during the closure is dati kasi medyo hindi namin na linilinis yung mga under kung sa kami nag-activities so what we did is we cream almost all the sa underwater we're asking also from DNR yung posters na ilalagay namin sa mga balsa namin so everybody will be aware yung mga tao namin at syaka yung mga so they will not throw plastic sa magdoodumi sila tapos we put segregated trash cans in our yung mga balsa namin as of now, yung benefits naman unti-unti namin nakikita mas luminis ngayon yung at yung mga tao nagsabing ang linis daw ng burakay ng AMK sa dati syaka nakita nila medyo disiplinado yung mga tao wala ng patapon-tapon sigarillyo mga lessons learned namin doon marami actually medyo nung una kasi hindi kami aware yung sa mga environmental issues medyo hindi namin so ang mga pan namin ngayon we are trying to educate all our workers especially our workers to respect the environment right now in cooperation with other associations pag meron silang underwater cleanup nag-co-coordinate kami to help them with our providing the boats for them people are really curious a lot of people want to go to burakay what happen to burakay lessons learned igalang po natin ang kalikasan at syaka sana po ngayon yung mga pasaway ay sumunod na po sa batas sa bagong burakay medyo matuto na tayo matuto na mga turista at syaka hindi lang mga local pati na mga turista na we have to love the island yung mga sa sa pagsara ng burakay one month, two months po hindi pa po namin na raramdaman magasakipikto po magtutumas na po yun na, ramdam na po namin talagang wala lang katao-tao yung burakay kami kami lang po dito tapos po naranasan po namin nangisda po talaga kami wala po kami mas halos po yung dumadaan na lang po na mga aros dintin sa bits na lang po talaga pero maganda naman po yung naiyari kasi po na kung hindi po na nai-president do 30 yung burakay targa masisira po kung hindi po niya na agapan ng ganunin po kasi may maraming mga tubo yung mga pipe na inano sa ilalim tapos ngayon nakita na siyempre yung mga naipo namin halalang sa six month po na nakapagutang pa po sa mga para kung baga sa sa parang nagsisimula palet pa sa umpisa po hindi pa po yung mga iba namin na namin na babayaran sa ngayon po may ano naman silang inano na kaspor work na patrabaho dito sa isla ng burakay hindi ka namin sukat akalain nakalain namin akalang na ganito maglose jout lang yung pala kung baga sa hindi na kapag prepared sa mga residentay sa mga tao po dito sa burakay yung payo ko lang na napo wag abusoin yung ng burakay We have seen that views can differ and be quite strong for and against tourism particularly as lives can be directly and indirectly affected by decisions taken One thing clear is that managing over tourism require the collaboration of key stakeholders the observance of good governance and learning from our collective experience Through this, attaining a more sustainable future will be less difficult to achieve It can be concluded that over tourism in the island of Burakay was a result of unchecked market forces along with government incapacity to implement appropriate actions to counter check exploitation of legal loopholes by tourism establishments in Burakay Further, a paradigm based on volume rather than quality of tourists and visitors had framed the island's development and pushed the island towards over tourism The closure proved that the government could impose its will for the common good in order to promote a more inclusive, sustainable and responsible tourism for all Moving forward Burakay could remain a haven for the right kind of tourism One that focuses on quality visitors rather than the volume for mass tourism Development measures must focus not on expanding the capacity for tourism but rather than on remaining within the island's ecological and social capacities This should be reflected in the use of sustainable development indicators instead of econometric measures of arrivals and tourism receipts Tourism is what we make it Will the destination use tourism or be used by it? Let's all take responsibility in making tourism sustainable for all The challenge is to make tourism destinations beneficial to all Let's face the challenge and bring change to promote tourism and not over tourism