Hostage Crisis in Manila: A Major Major Problem to The Country’s Tourism Industry

With the admission of the Philippine National Police that their rescue team committed mistakes in resolving the hostage crisis in Manila, ending with eight Hongkong tourists’ dead, adversely affected the tourism industry.

The Manila Times, 25 August 2010 issue, reported that the local currency lost 47 centavos against the dollar to close at 45.530 from Monday’s 45.060.  The peso opened weaker at 45.220 and traded between 45.550 and  45.200 with total volume surging to $1.309 billion from the previous $737.4 million.

But the Philippine Central Bank said that Monday’s hostage-taking would not make a lasting impact on the markets in the long-term.

“That was a very unfortunate incident but an isolated event and the markets will see through that and it should not have a significant effect on the market in general,” Central Bank Governor Armando Tentangco, Jr. told reporters (Manila Times).

“It’s very unfortunate because we have a new government and people had been very positive about Asia and the Philippines.  We’ve been getting a lot of interest and something like this happens.  When the smoke clears, it’s the fundamentals that will prevail,” Bank of Philippine Island’s executive said.

According to reports, an association of local travel agencies warned of a slowdown in tourist arrivals coming from Hongkong and China because of the Monday’s hostage crisis.

Manila Times further reported that, “Ma. Paz Alberto, Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) president, said that the incident would have an immediate impact on the domestic tourism industry, as foreign travelers may deem the Philippines unsafe upon seeing the hostage drama unfold live on international television news networks.“

“No amount of advertising and promotions can erase the tragedy that happened.  But showing heart to the families of those who died yesterday will hopefully create a lasting impact,” Alberto added.