We said hello to 2020. Where suddenly everything went wrong. The first moments had it’s shocking circumstances and then The surfing Capital of the Philippines had to put surfers in jail. They violated the law while surfing. Who saw this one coming….
The coronavirus came out of nowhere and here we are: Siargao, one of the prime tourism destinations, had to empty itself from all tourism. It went into lockdown, together with the rest of the nation and the world.
ECQ took our freedom, but it also prevented an absolute disaster. We dodged a bullet. With the basic available health care, things could have gotten really bad if we didn’t act accordingly. Therefor a big thank you and congratulations to the local authorities and everyone who helped enforcing them!
And now, we adapt our lifestyles, we keep our guard up, and we prepare for what’s coming. The ECQ ends at some point. We restart our businesses, our tourism, our lives. One thing is certain. The Island life as we know it, won’t ever be the same as before.
The island’s economy was very much depending on tourism. This life, this tourism, it’s not returning anytime soon. Borders are closed globally. Will our foreign guests be able to leave their country anytime soon? Will they be allowed to enter the Philippines? Siargao?
We’ll discover in different stages how we will recover, if we can recover... We have to brace ourselves for a very long recession, back to basics, back to farming and an independent way of living.
A short-term hope is local tourism. Let’s hope that local tourist finds their way to the island. But realistically, the amount of available new beds and restaurants is overwhelming.
After the quarantine, everyone will try get some cash flow going. Only the ones that reach break-even will remain open.
For a long time, we will feel like the ‘old days’ of Siargao again. Where you go around and see the same people, going to the same places, because there’s only those places that will be open. We can feel this already. We do our essential groceries, and suddenly you see that person again. The person you totally had forgotten about, because he became invisible in the cloud or fog that the growing tourism had created. Locals and residents will have Siargao back to themselves. Magpuponko or Sugba Lagoon? We might actually go there again.
Surfing? Line ups won’t be empty :) … but the surf instructors face the same challenges. There won’t be many people to teach surfing to anytime soon.
As for the wakepark, because yes, this is the wakepark blog. We’re ready for anything. We’re very well aware that we’re a secondary activity on the island and we’ll do our best to adapt to the situation that is given. We will also re-open. Invite all stranded tourists, locals and residents to enjoy our riding paradise. And then, we’ll look at the numbers. We hope we can sustain with the available people. And if we don’t, we’ll have to close, a sad reality, but it is what it is.
Stay tuned for our Pandemic Prices, coming soon, after the Quarantine.
Worldwide and nationwide, the economy took a hit, a serious one. Tourism has always been existing on money that people had ‘to spare’, some savings that people can go and have fun with.
Let’s pray our domestic airlines will be available, at a reasonable rate.
Let’s pray all businesses will lower their prices so we can share the cookie among everyone.
Let us be prepared,
To be continued.