THE Provincial Tourism Office reported a huge drop in tourism activities in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jennylind Cordero, provincial tourism officer, said daylight tourists dropped by 60 percent in 2020 with only 894,072 compared to 2,241,715 tourists in 2019.
For overnight accommodation, it also dropped by 73 percent from 858,995 in 2019 to only 232,899 in 2020, the Provincial Tourism Office data showed.
The data covers the 31 towns and cities in the province, not including Bacolod City.
The situation in the province is not far behind the situation in the whole world that dropped to 74 percent, Cordero said.
Cordero also said as of this time, data showed that 19,575 Negrenses who are employed in the tourism industry have been affected by the pandemic based on the data of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
"It is still growing," she said.
These 19,575 individuals were directly affected by the pandemic and have applied for cash assistance with DOLE under the DOT.
These individuals belong to community-based tourism organizations, tour guide associations, tourism enterprises, and other tourism support services, including restaurants, hotels and others, Cordero added.
Cordero said so far, most resorts, tourist inns and hotels are already open, however, owners are only accommodating local tourists who are from their respective localities.
