DOT launches ADB-CIDA tourism program

CEBU, Philippines - Aimed towards improving tourism employment in the country, the Department of Tourism yesterday officially launched the Asian Development Bank-Canada International Development Agency on Improving Competitiveness in Tourism.

The Government of Canada’s technical assistance is estimated to cost $7,116,900 which will be financed on a grant basis while the Philippines will provide a counterpart support in the form of counterpart staff, office space and other in-kind contribution.

The goal of CIDA’s program in the Philippines is to support sustainable economic growth by improving the climate for investment and protecting the economic interests of the poor.

It can be recalled that in 2011, DOT asked ADB for technical assistance (TA) to improve competitiveness through interventions to support regulatory review, raise service standards and develop skills.

The impact of this technical assistance will be increased employment in the tourism industry as one critical channel for achieving inclusive growth. This will be measured by an increase in employment above the long-term average growth rate.

The outcome, according to the ABD Technical Assistance Report, will be improved competitiveness of Philippine Tourism which will be measured by an improvement in the ranking of the World Economic Forum’s travel and tourism competitiveness index by at least 15 places from its 2011 baseline ranking of 94th in the world.

Among the key activities conducted is that DOT has started a regulatory impact assessment program that will be expanded under the TA to include regulatory and licensing reviews by local government units in four pilot regions: Bohol, Cebu, Davao and Palawan.

The focus will be on improving regulations to reduce regulatory compliance costs of businesses operating in the tourism industry.

Another activity is the hotel and resort quality assurance and accreditation system which is designed to improve hotel and resort service standards to visitors and act as a market-based incentive to lift service standards and promote staff skills development over time.

Also, a tourism industry skills development program will also be conducted which includes upgrading vocational skills and competency in the industry as well as provisioning a skills grant scheme for industry, local government units and civil society organizations to access training grants.

The TA will be implemented over four years. It started last March 2013 and will be completed in February 2017.—(FREEMAN)