Abstract
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020, due to the enormous global expansion of the disease. By June 2020, COVID-19 will have killed over 500,000 individuals and infected over 10 million more (WHO, 2020). As a result, the global economy has been severely damaged by the coronavirus pandemic, which is still wreaking havoc on businesses. Tourism-related establishments have been hit the worst. This study examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism-related establishments in Guiuan, Eastern Samar. The study used a descriptive-quantitative method of research. A survey questionnaire was conducted with 236 participants using mean and standard deviation to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism-related establishments and the strategies used by tourism-related businesses to survive during the pandemic. Moreover, a T-test was used in this study to determine the significant difference between variables. The respondents strongly agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected tourism-related establishments, resulted to hamper their business operations and activities. Moreover, the findings of the study revealed that tourism-related establishments initiate several coping strategies to address the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their business operations and activities. Tourism-related establishments embrace the changes in their business environment brought about by the COVID-19 crisis and slowly continue their business operations and activities with the help and guidance of different coping strategies and measures to survive.
