DOT moves to improve tourist facilities

NO tourism enterprise should be allowed to operate in the country, unless it meets the minimum standards set by the Department of Tourism.

Lawyer Ma. Victoria Jasmin, DOT undersecretary for tourism regulation, coordination and revenue generation, said the agency is currently working on new hotel and resorts standards to be published before the end of March.

“This would mean that all primary tourism enterprises should be accredited by the DOT prior to operation, hence, they should comply with the DOT’s minimum requirements,” she said in a memorandum to Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., a copy of which was sent to the BusinessMirror.

“Primary tourism enterprises,” are defined in the implementing rules of the Tourism Act of 2009, as “travel and tour services, land, sea and air transport services exclusively for tourist use; accommodation establishments; convention and exhibition organizers; tourism estate management services; and such other enterprises as may be identified by the Secretary, after due consultation with concerned sectors.”

Jasmin’s memo was prompted by the recent publication of the results of a 2009 survey of tourism establishments in the country by the National Statistics Office —a joint undertaking with the DOT—which showed that 548 of the 1,475 “accommodation establishments” surveyed did not offer essential tourism services such as laundry, airport transfers, spa/massage therapy services, tour services, medical services, cultural and recreational shows, among others. (See "Tourism-wise, Philippines was not fun in 2009–NSO", in the BusinessMirror, Jan. 16, 2012.)

But she said those who responded to the survey were “both accredited and non-accredited facilities,” and that most of those failed to offer the essential tourism services “are non-accredited by the DOT.”

According to the NSO, the 2009 Survey of Tourism Establishments in the Philippines (STEP) covered four tourism industries: hotels and motels, pension houses, other short-stay accommodation, and transport equipment rental. Also covered in the survey were establishments engaged in: accommodation, restaurant passenger transport, transport equipment rental, travel agency, tour operator and tourist guide services, recreation, entertainment, cultural services and similar activities, financial and insurance activities, and health and wellness.

The survey showed “only 194 establishments or 13.6 percent of the total” were accredited by the DOT in 2009 and that “more than half of the total establishments with DOT accreditation in 2009 were…tour and travel agencies.”

“The respondents are a mix of big, medium, and small-scale tourism facilities which have varying all types of services offered to tourists,” Jasmin said. “It would, therefore, be inappropriate to assume or conclude that same must be required for all types of accommodation facilities, since different categories of facilities required different sets of services.”

She said the survey was also conducted “to determine at the time of approval of RA 9353 [the Tourism Act of 2009], the state of accommodation capacities in the country, so that appropriate measures could be undertaken toward ensuring that most, if not all accommodation establishments, comply with the necessary requirements for mandatory accreditation.”

Meanwhile, the survey also indicated a robust growth among tour and travel agencies—one out of 10 of such establishments said they were going to expand in the next five years.

Other significant findings in the 2009 STEP survey were:

• Tours and travel agencies accounted for the largest number, or 60.4 percent, of the 1,430 establishments counted by the survey. This was followed by supporting and auxiliary activities to water transport industry (10.6 percent); Booking offices/Tourist assistance activities, not elsewhere classified (8.3 percent); Inter-urban bus lines (6.2 percent); Chartered buses and cars operation/Other land transport operation (4.9 percent). Domestic air passenger and freight transport/International air passenger and freight transport, registered only five establishments and thus classified under “other industries.”

• Overall, the tourism industry is male-dominated at 77.2 percent of total employees in 2009. Only tours and travel agencies (60 percent), as well as booking offices/tourist guides (65 percent) were dominated by female employees.

• Transport operators, tour and travel agencies reported a total revenue of P164.5 billion, of which 41.6 percent was generated from tourists. Among industries, domestic air passenger and freight transport/international air passenger and freight transport earned both the highest total revenue and revenue generated from tourists with P97.1 billion and P54.3 billion, respectively.

• There were 1,012 tour guides registered, of which 74.3 percent were hired by tour and travel agencies. “One out of three tour guides were freelancers or on commission basis.”

• A total of 5,319, units or 42.2 percent, of the total land transport facilities owned and operated by the establishments were cars/sedans. More than half or 3,285 cars/sedans were used as public utility cars and taxicabs.

(My piece was originally published in the BusinessMirror, Jan. 24, 2012.)

Industry stakeholders threaten boycott of Tourism Congress polls (UPDATED)

(Former DOT Secretary Narzalina Lim.)

A number of tourism stakeholders who had earlier planned to attend the upcoming Tourism Congress elections on Friday, November 11, at the Philippine International Convention Center, are now planning to withdraw their participation in the said event.

The group, which includes former Tourism Secretary Narzalina Lim and former Philippine Stock Exchange president Jose Luis Yulo Jr., who owns an accredited tourism enterprise, decried an alleged breach of an agreement forged by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. between warring factions in the industry. That agreement had paved the way for new elections to be convened and overseen by the Department of Tourism, and not by the current Tourism Congress headed by its president Alma Jimenez.

Under the old Tourism Congress, only accredited “aggrupations” were invited to participate in the election of its officers in 2009, and not the more than 1,000 enterprises that are supposedly on record. A number of stakeholders have alleged that the old TC board did not truly represent all sectors in the industry, such as those of hotels and restaurants. (The rest in InterAksyon, Nov. 9, 2011.)

Letter of former DOT Secretary Narzalina Lim to Undersecretary Daniel Corpuz, withdrawing participation in the Tourism Congress here.

* * * *
Yes! this was my first story in InterAksyon, the online news portal of TV5. Watch out for more of my stories there. :)

* * * *
UPDATE: Tourism Congress elects new officers, InterAksyon, Nov. 11, 2011

No fund misallocation in Mark Lapid case – DOT chief

FOR now, Mark Lapid is staying on as general manager of the Tourism Infrastruture and Zone Authority (Tieza), formerly the Philippine Tourism Authority.

Thus said Ramon Jimenez Jr., acting secretary of the Department of Tourism, in an extensive interview with this writer, for BusinessMirror.

Jimenez also said there were no issues of fund irregularities with regards to the Commission on Audit’s report on Lapid. “The problems are administrative; we're not talking here of somebody stealing money, and that's why, in fact, he was sanctioned. Certain movements have been restricted already,” the DOT chief stressed.

He added that he was “working very well” with Lapid.

As per the Tourism Act of 2009, Tieza is “mandated to designate, regulate and supervise the tourism enterprise zones established under this Act, as well as develop, manage and supervise tourism infrastructure projects in the country. It shall supervise and regulate the cultural, economic and environmentally sustainable development of TEZs toward the primary objective of encouraging investments therein.”

It would be recalled that Jimenez’s predecessor, Alberto Lim, asserted that President Aquino had failed to act on the COA report on Lapid as the latter’s father, Sen. Lito Lapid’s vote was needed to approve the postponement of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao elections.

In the same interview, Jimenez also said changes were in store for the controversial Tourism Congress (TC). A number of tourism officials and private tourism stakeholders have criticized that the current crop of TC representatives were not “truly representative” of the sector.

Hoteliers said their sector, for instance, were not represented in the TC. “And yet they have someone representing the real estate sector sitting as one of its officials,” remarked the general manager of a five-star hotel, who declined to be identified.

The amended Sec. 137 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Tourism Act of 2009 calls for the DOT Secretary to convene the Tourism Congress and their duly representative members. Thereafter, he is supposed to preside over the election of the group’s new president, as well as its other officers.

“The fact of the matter is, the current congress, their terms expire in November. Now I am not inclined to wait for that. What I’m more inclined is to get the parties together before that time, because there is a very unique opportunity for all of them to participate in a genuine transition as dictated by the new IRR,” Jimenez said.

The TC is a key body in the tourism industry, which is why its previous representation became very contentious. It recommends candidates for the respective boards of the Tieza, Duty Free Philippines Corp. and Tourism Promotions Board. (formerly the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp.).

With proper candidates to the TC and said DOT-attached agencies, the private sector is given a pivotal role in directing the course of tourism promotions and marketing of the country.

In the interview, Jimenez also outlines his priority programs, his vision for Intramuros, and how he intends to use the Rizal Park as a “national laboratory” to train local governments in the standards of establishing tourism facilities. (Click BusinessMirror Sunday for the rest of the interview.)