Republic of the Philippines

PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

CONCEPT PROPOSAL
Date Submitted: Revision No.:

Note: This form is a guide for the graduate student to follow when submitting a concept proposal. This must be
submitted in three (3) copies to the Graduate School and must contain all the information herein required.

WORKING TITLE

Study title:
“IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON TOURISM INDUSTRY OF EL NIDO: BASIS FOR
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION”

INTRODUCTION

The outbreak of COVID-19 causes significant damage globally due to its risk fatality.
The COVID-19 pandemic has expanded across the world by creating shocks in almost all
the industries due to the travel restrictions, borders closures, curfews, stay-home, work-
from-home policies, social distancing, and quarantines instituted by the governments to
minimize or curtail the spread of viruses. As a result of the health and economic crisis with
the COVID-19 pandemic, the fear of COVID-19 led to significant uncertainty and chaotic
conditions in many industries, (Ugur, et. al. 2020), and the tourism industry got severely
affected by this pandemic crisis, (S H T, Kumudumali, 2020).
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has estimated a loss of approximately
1.1 billion international tourist arrivals, with a loss of US$ 910 to 1.1 trillion export revenues
and 100-120 million people losses jobs due to the wider spread of the novel coronavirus.
Globally, travel and tourism sectors are the significant contributors to a leading job
creation, socio-economic and cultural development worldwide, (McCabe and Qiao, 2020).
In many cities, regions, and countries, tourism plays a critical role as a strategic pillar of the
economy's GDP. (Ma et al., 2020), and this was one of the world's greatest markets,
( Abiyik, et. al. 2020).
Undeniably in the Philippines, the tourism related businesses like hotels or resort,
restaurants, tourists transport, and tours has already felt the negative impact of the
pandemic compared to the previous years on its performance.
The result of massive cancellations of flights, tours, events, hotel reservations and a

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

resultant decline inbound travel, hotel occupancy rates and average room rates have
dropped sharply causing unprecedented declines in profit margins of PHP85bn in the first
quarter of the year, (Mensah, 2020). Employers across all industries, and especially in the
restaurant and hospitality industries, are facing extreme challenges, such as the reduced
need for staffing, need for remote work, employees without childcare, temporary location
closures, and protecting employees from the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace,
(Berry, 2020)
Tourists public transit locations – such as bus services, terminals, and waiting area
have fallen by as much as 80% across countries since early March, according to Google
mobility reports.
In the case of tour guiding sector, their agendas were reduced to nothing. They
simply became unemployed and lost their work, due to various lockdowns, tourists didn’t
want to travel together in the same bus or plane. Tourists still can’t visit sites and
monuments together; they must keep a certain degree of physical (social) distance and
strictly follow health protocols while traveling, (Brito, 2021). It adversely increase mental
health issues and affect tourists' behavior and wellbeing, (Aman et al., 2019), the fear of the
risks and challenges to avoid virus infection during travel time, (Mamirkulova et al., 2020).
In this reason, Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune, provides
latest reports and analysis that warns COVID 19 has pushed an additional 88 million people
into extreme poverty this year. The report presents new estimates of COVID-19’s impacts on
global poverty and inequality shows that pandemic
related job losses and deprivation worldwide are hitting already
poor and vulnerable people hard, while also partly changing the profile of global poverty by
creating millions of “new poor.”
Such challenges never exempt El Nido tourism industry in facing decline and losses
wherein almost 80 percent of the population relied on tourism – working at hotels or resorts,
restaurants, and souvenir shops, or as tour guides, tour drivers and boatmen.
Typically, El Nido registers an average tourist arrival of 37,764 a month, according to
municipal tourism office. On average, the town’s tourism businesses earned an average of

P320,994,000 a month, while the local government’s Eco-Tourism Development Fee

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

collections could reach up to P7.3 million monthly. Each tourist is charged P200 as ETDF for
island hopping tours, (Ong, 2020)
The locals blame the looming threat of COVID-19 as the reason why there has been
a decline in visitor arrivals in town, (Mutia, 2020).
Meanwhile, despite of the slow-moving travel movement due to COVID-19, business
owners in El Nido remain positive that everything will come to a good end eventually,
(Echague, 2020)
Therefore, this paper aims to determine the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the
tourism industry of El Nido for the basis of government intervention. Specifically, the study
objectives are to investigate the impact of COVID 19 pandemic on the following areas of
hotels or resort, restaurants, tourists transport, and tours. To discover the challenges
confronted during pandemic and the strategies employ to overcome those challenges while
minimizing the economic shocks due to the pandemic with the support of the local
government units of El Nido municipality. The findings will help to face challenges in the
tourism industry, and strategies or mechanism to overcome whatever pandemic crisis in the
future are recommended.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study will be implemented with the following specific objectives:

1. To investigate the impact of COVID 19 pandemic on tourism industry of El Nido,
specifically to the following areas;
a. Hotels/Resort
b. Restaurants
c. Tourist Transport
d. Tours
2. Determine the challenges experienced during pandemic by the following areas;
a. Hotels/Resort
b. Restaurants
c. Tourist Transport
d. Tours
3. Study the coping mechanism employed by the tourism industry to address health
security, income loss, and business sustainability during pandemic.
4. Find out the support does the LGU or the National government extended to them.

METHODOLOGY

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

Research Design
This study will use descriptive research to analyze and describes a population, situation, or
phenomenon that is being studied and quantitative research methods will be utilized.
Quantitative methods use numbers for interpreting data (Maki, 2004). Quantitative
assessment offers a myriad of data collection tools including structured interviews,
questionnaires, and tests (Palomba & Banta, 1999)

Sampling Procedure
The sampling technique that will be used in the study is non-probability convenient sampling
because this is the easiest method of sampling wherein the participants are selected based
on availability and willingness to take part of the study.

Participants of the Study

The respondents of the study are the tourism industry usually stable in business around two
or more years that mostly hit by COVID 19 pandemic like hotels/resort, restaurants, tourism
transport, and island-hopping businesses around the municipality of El Nido.

Time and Place of the Study

The study will be conducted starting from June 2021 to March 2022 at the municipality of El
Nido, Palawan.

Data Gathering Procedure

The procedure that the researcher will go through to conduct this study is to make
first a title and craft statement of the problem to be guide in the research and the product
that will make. After presenting the proposal paper, the researcher will make a letter to the
head of the school asking her/his approval and it is noted by the subject adviser to start
gathering the data. Then the gathered data will be presented, interpreted, and analyze to
show the result of the study that will be tallied for statistical analysis, supported by its related
review of literatures and studies.
The researcher will carry out the process survey, interview, and questionnaires that
will be send or give in actual or via online on the participant’s free time or vacant time to
conduct gathering of data. The researcher is hoping for the respondents to willingly
participate in the research procedure.

Ethical Issues
The researcher will adhere to the right processes and consideration during the process of
this study. The researcher will see to it to properly observe the COVID19Health Protocols of
the government while conducting the research. The purpose or the objective will be
explained to the respondents and the privacy of the respondents will be properly observed.
No one will be asked to participate without proper consent and the data or response that will
be gather will be use but keep privately.

Research Instrument
The researchers will gather data using face-to-face interview with the use of questionnaires.

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

REFERENCES

Naciye Guliz Ugur, et. al. September 6, 2020,

“Impacts of COVID-19 on Global Tourism Industry: A Cross-Regional Comparison”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7474895/

S H T, Kumudumali (2020): Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism Industry: A Review”

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/102834/

S. McCabe, G. Qiao, 2020, “A Review of Research into Social Tourism: Launching the

Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on Social Tourism”
Ann. Tour. Res., 85 (2020), Article 103103
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/102834/1/MPRA_paper_102834.pdf

X. Ma, et al., 2020, “Nouveauté or Cliché? Assessment on island ecological vulnerability to

tourism: application to Zhoushan, China”
Ecol. Indic., 113 (2020), Article 106247

Ishmael Mensah, 2020, “Unpacking the Impacts of COVID 19 on Tourism and Repackaging
the Hotel Service”
https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4098657.html

https://www.theigc.org/blog/impact-of-covid-19-on-public-transport/

Bass Berry, March 31, 2020, “Impact of COVID-19 on the Restaurant & Hospitality Industry”
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/impact-of-covid-19-on-the-restaurant-56944/

UNWTO (2020a), COVID-19 Related Travel Restrictions: A Global Review for Tourism”
Second Report as of 28 April 2020.
Retrieved from
https://webunwto.s3.eu-west1.amazonaws.com/s3fspublic/2020-04/TravelRestrictions - 28
April.pdf

https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/poverty-and-shared-prosperity

DUNC-UNESCO, 2020 “Covid-19: Challenges and Opportunities for the Tourism

Sector and How DUNC is Coping with the Current Situation”
https://www.dunc-heritage.eu/covid-19-challenges-and-opportunities-for-the-tourism-sector-
and-how-dunc-is-coping-with-the-current-situation/

J. Aman, et al., 2019, “The influence of Islamic Religiosity on the Perceived Socio-Cultural
Impact of Sustainable Tourism Development in Pakistan: A Structural Equation Modeling

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

Approach” Sustainability, 11 (11) (2019), p. 3039

G. Mamirkulova, et al., 2020, “New Silk Road Infrastructure Opportunities in Developing

Tourism Environment for Residents Better Quality of Life”
Glob. Ecol. Conserv., 24 (2020), p. e01194

Luis Miguel Brito, 2021, “Reflections on How the COVID-19 Pandemic can Change Tour
Guiding”
https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=ijtgr

Ghio Ong May 15, 2020 “Biglang Nawala,’ Tour Guides, Other Workers In Palawan
Reel From Loss Of Tourists Due To COVID-19”
https://www.onenews.ph/articles/biglang-nawala-tour-guides-other-workers-in-palawan-reel-
from-loss-of-tourists-due-to-covid-19

By Bella Mutia | March 11, 2020, “El Nido Businesses Meet to Tackle COVID-19”
https://Palawan-News.Com/El-Nido-Businesses-Meet

SITUATION
OVID-19: CHALLENGES AND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE
TOURISM SECTOR AND HOW
DUNC IS COPING WITH THE
CURRENT SITUATION
.

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal