Philippine Tourist Spot Suffers in Bus Siege Aftermath

The Philippines’ premier destination of Boracay Island is suffering weak business, after a bungled rescue attempt last week which left eight foreign nationals dead.

The country’s Department of Tourism reported initial losses of P15 million (nearly $350,000) in tourist revenue, after hundreds of visitors from Hong Kong and China called off their trips.

Most of the hostages killed were from Hong Kong, when a disgruntled former cop hijacked a tour bus carrying 22 tourists. Police finally stormed the bus after a ten-hour standoff, but took nearly two hours to neutralize the hijacker. In all, nine people died, including the gunman, while eight hostages and a bystander were injured.

The incident severely strained the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Hong Kong, with the latter imposing a travel ban. According to tourism spokesperson Edwin Trompeta, 500 tourists from Hong Kong and China canceled flights to Boracay.

One of the island’s major resorts reported losing P5.8 million (over $133,000) from canceled bookings, while six other resorts and a hotel estimated lost revenues of P600,000 (nearly $15,000) each.

Taken together with expenses on transportation, food and entertainment, the losses could run as high as P20 million, or nearly half a million US dollars, in just the first two weeks after the tragedy. The full extent will be known by mid-September, just before the peak tourist season in the region.

In a country with over 7,000 islands and a coastline twice that of the US, Boracay stands out as the Philippines’ most recognized destination, because of its famous white sand beaches and developed tourist infrastructure. Around 60,000 tourists from Hong Kong and China visit the island each year.

The tourism department sees the first three months of the tragedy as a critical period, and is setting up for a major ad campaign to aggressively woo visitors back to the island. It has also set up a vigil center in its nearby office, where mourners could light candles and leave offerings for the victims.

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