Home-stay accommodation facilities Rent.ph taps DOT help on accreditation process

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu-based online portal for rent management solutions, Rent.ph, has sought support from the Department of Tourism (DOT) to come up with improved home-stay accreditation process.

Anthony Leuterio, president of Rent.ph, said that a home-stay accommodation facility is now one of the in-demand services based on the feedback of their website.

Leuterio said in Cebu alone, 80 percent of countryside destinations have not enough hotel accommodation and  the lack of this service is feared to hamper the growth of countryside tourism, specifically in Cebu.

At present, the website has an inventory of over 2,000 residents not only from Cebu, but also from other provinces like Davao and Negros Occidental that are up for home-stay offering.

However, unless the government will provide a standard for home-stay facilities, the promotion on this category will remain at loose, Leuterio stressed.

"The government or the DOT may have existing accreditation process or standard system for home-stay program, but a lot of us don't know if it exists. DOT has to come up with proper accreditation process designed for the home-stay participants," said Leuterio in an interview.

But in a separate interview with DOT-7 regional director Rowena Montecillo the other day, she said the department has an existing accreditation standard for home-stay already.

Leuterio, who also owns a real estate brokerage company, said that his roster of agents around the country has also noticed the need of investor-buyers of real estate products, for this type of accommodation with the lack accommodation facilities in the far-flung destinations.

Because of this, Leuterio plans to coordinate initially with regional DOT office here and eventually with the national office.

Also, Rent.ph plans to tie up with DOT and other tourism organizations to promote Cebu.

Meanwhile, the new Cebu provincial government administration led by Governor-elect Hilario Davide III earlier committed to further push countryside tourism, and one of the important programs to be promoted is the development of home-stay program in different towns in the province. — (FREEMAN)