A couple of European tourists were spotted walking along the national highway in Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob on February 26, 2022 and according to locals, they were among the first foreign tourists to have returned to their town two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. | CDN Digital / Morexette Marie Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – After two years, the town of Oslob has again welcomed foreign tourists, giving individuals who depend on tourism hope that they can finally recover from the economic sting of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several foreign travelers were spotted in Oslob on Saturday, February 26, nearly two weeks since the Philippines reopened its borders to fully vaccinated tourists.
This sight particularly made Zenaida Nepumuceno hopeful that they will already be able to return to their pre-pandemic lives.
Nepumuceno, who owns a hostel right near the jumping point of Oslob’s whale-shark watching activities in Barangay Tan-awan, shared that on Saturday, they welcomed back a group of around 20 South Koreans and a few European tourists.
It was the first time for Oslob to accept foreign tourists for their famous whale-shark watching activities, said Nepumuceno.
“Oo first time karung buwana… Naa man gani (muanhi ug Oslob) pero dinhe ra gikan sa atoa,” she added.
(That was the first for this month. Previously, we only had local tourists.)
Food vendor Evangeline Lugas also shared the same sentiments with Nepumuceno.
Lugas, a mother of three who sells sweet corn and buko juice with her husband along the highway in Barangay Tan-awan, can’t help but express optimism that will already be able to return to their normal lives soon.
Lugas also confirmed the hostel owner’s claims.
She shared that a couple of European tourists bought buko juice from their stall after doing whale-shark watching and visiting Sumilon Island’s sand bar.
“Before sa pandemic, daghan mi pwede mabaligya. Usahay, mamaligya mi ug Korean coffee kay sagad sa mga turista dinhe mga Asians man. Korean, Chinese, Japanese,” she said.
(Before the pandemic hit, we sold a lot of items. Sometimes, we would sell Korean coffee because most of the visiting tourists are Asians. Korean, Japanese, Chinese.)
“(Pero) katong nagpandemic, kani (mais ug buko juice) lang sa among mabaligya. Naay muari pero taga dinhe ra sad. Kanang local (tourists),” she added.
(But when the pandemic hit, we were limited to selling just these (sweet corn and buko juice). There were still those who would come but these were locals. Local tourists.)
Last February 10, Cebu, together with the rest of the country, reopened its borders to fully vaccinated tourists. Here in the province, unvaccinated travelers may be accepted, too but subject to several conditions.
Lockdowns and other mobility restrictions prompted tourism players around the world to pause. Some of them, unfortunately, shut down and left millions unemployed.
Here in Cebu, both Nepumuceno and Lugas said foreign arrivals contributed a lot to their livelihoods, adding that that relying on domestic market is not enough to earn any income.
“Ang nagdala gyud og kinabag-an nga negosyo sa atong turismo diri, kadtong gikan sa Korea, Japan ug China,” Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia pointed out in a speech during a stakeholders and Provincial Tourism Task Force meeting in Moalboal held on Saturday.
(Those who are helping our business, local tourism flourish are those coming from Korea, Japan and China.)
Oslob is a fourth-class municipality located approximately 120 kilometers southeast of Cebu City.
Albeit a subject of debate among conversationists and tourism experts, the whale-shark watching activities there led the municipality to earn millions in pesos as income.
Aside from whale-shark watching, the town also hosts to other equally popular tourist destinations such as the Sumilon Island, Tumalog Falls, and monkey viewings.
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