DOT vows to prioritize long-term tourism plans

CEBU, Philippines - In response to the private sector's demands for structural reforms to specific sectors that hold promise for economic growth, the government through the Department of Tourism (DOT) vows to prioritize support for tourism development.

“The government and private sector identified tourism for longer-term development based on recent sector growth performance, job creation possibilities across the archipelago, and positive externalities to other sectors,” said DOT assistant secretary for tourism development planning Rolando Canizal.

In his report, Canizal said tourism employs more than 3.7 million and many of these jobs are outside the main urban centers of Manila and Cebu.

Employment through community-based tourism projects has also been growing rapidly, he said. Employment incomes generated through tourism help families [slowly] escape poverty.

According to Canizal, the government is aware of these structural and policy constraints on longer-term growth in tourism.

In 2012, DOT endorsed the National Tourism Development Plan 2011-2016. The new plan shifts away from the traditional approach of public provisioning of services to the industry to greater private sector participation.

Features of the plan include the adoption of a public-private-partnership (PPP) framework for hotel and resort quality assurance accreditation; a PPP in tourism industry skills development and funding; and a regulatory review of the tourism industry and the promotion of PPPs in infrastructure.

Compared to its neighbors in the Asian region, the Philippines has lagged behind, Canizal admitted.

In 2010, about 3.5 million foreign tourists arrived in the Philippines compared with the 20 million for Malaysia, 16 million for Thailand and five million for Indonesia.

In his report, Canizal said that the Philippines also performed poorly in global surveys of tourism competitiveness. In 2011 alone, World Economic Forum travel and tourism competitiveness index ranked the Philippines 94th of 139 countries due to its poor regulatory framework, business environment, tourism infrastructure and poor service standards.

“These factors have contributed to lower international tourist arrivals and tourism revenues relative to regional neighbors,” he said.

Canizal said DOT and tourism providers are especially concerned about relatively lower service standards and employers complaining about the skills mismatch of many school leavers entering the industry.

Currently, the hotel and resorts quality assurance rating system is based on outdated standards and is poorly implemented, thereby not serving its purpose as signaling quality benchmarked against international standards.

“Many young people entering the tourism industry are not considered to be adequately trained. Vocational training curriculum of occupations in the industry is not frequently updated to meet changing international standards and practices, and skills development in tourism is underfunded,” he said.

In Cebu, the tourism stakeholders, through the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Tourism Committee, is strengthening programs and advocacy towards taking advantage of tourism as employment generator and economic driver for the province.

The committee, vowed to work closer with the DOT and other concerned government agencies, including the local government units (LGUs) to accelerate implementation of tourism development programs. —/JMD (FREEMAN)