Making tourism livelihoods sustainable: An assessment of community livelihood assets as impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Barangay Cagbalete Uno is a rural village found in the island of Cagbalete, Mauban, Philippines whose local livelihoods are largely based on tourism activities. Due to the adverse impacts of COVID-19 to the tourism industry, this paper examined the change in livelihood assets of Cagbalete Uno before and during the pandemic to assess how sustainable tourism livelihoods in the island are. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), the livelihood assets pentagon showed a significant decline in all capitals. The financial capital had the most significant decline, followed by the social, human, natural, and physical capitals. The experience of the local community revealed that the availability and access to one capital affected the availability and access to the other capitals. Therefore, designing sustainable livelihoods should aim to understand and enhance all livelihood assets in the community. Additionally, the dependence of tourism on external stakeholders can make communities more vulnerable. Therefore, instead of displacing them, tourism development should enhance other livelihood activities in a destination.