Investing amid a crisis seems counterintuitive, but that might be an advisable course of action for the tourism industry, which continues to be ravaged by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Investing during a crisis has been a principle for many, perhaps since the 18th century when Baron Rothschild famously said,
The problem is that tourism continues to be stifled by the pandemic, which seems far from ending. In fact, cases continue to increase here and elsewhere around the world. In the Philippines, the total number of cases should breach 53,000 by today, with more 38,000 Filipinos among the active cases. While tourism is slow or put on hold, the Philippines should carry out major renovations and development of its tourism infrastructure. By doing that now, work could be done with minimal disruption and less inconvenience to tourists and other travelers. More importantly, doing so will help economic recovery, especially since construction projects have a high multiplier.If this recommendation can be followed, the first projects on the list should be a major renovation of airports.
Investments in seaports, road networks, even transregional railways should be pursued at this time, as well. Maybe there should be special financing programs to help private developers build more hotels, particularly in popular tourist areas outside of Metro Manila.Granted, major projects take time to complete. As mentioned earlier, there seems to be no