Only 969 tourism enterprises accredited with DOT | Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo (2024)

MANY hospitality establishments and tourism enterprises in the country have been operating without accreditation from the Department of Tourism (DOT).

As of July 2018, the DOT web site showed only 969 accredited tourism enterprises. These include adventure and ecotourism facilities, agri-tourism farms/sites; ambulatory clinics; apartment hotels/apartels; department stores/shopping malls; ecolodges; ecotour operators; galleries; home stay establishments; hotels; medical concierges; meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibit facilities; MICE organizers; motels; museums; pension houses; resorts; rest areas; restaurants; shooting ranges; spas; specialty shops; tertiary hospitals; tourism entertainment complexes; tourism recreation; tourism training centers; tourist air- transport operators; tourist inns; tourist land-transport operators; tourist water-transport operators; travel and tour agencies; and zoos.

This developed as the DOT officials are making the accreditation of tourism enterprises mandatory nationwide.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, DOT Assistant Secretary for Tourism Regulation, Coordination and Resource Generation Ma. Rica C. Bueno said they want Boracay Island to become the template for accreditation in other tourism destinations. “We really hope so. We now have a chance to directly guide our industry on the necessary measures, not only for the improvement of the quality of the services but also [for establishments] to protect their own business.”

The DOT has said no hotel or resort on Boracay will be allowed to reopen on October 26 if it isn’t accredited by the agency. A tourism establishment can only be accredited by the DOT after it secures the necessary business permits and environmental clearances.

The interagency Task Force Boracay has just set up a one-stop shop for Boracay establishments to process their local business permits, environmental clearance certificates and DOT accreditation at the function room of Casa Pilar, in Station 3. The shop will be manned by representatives of the DOT, and the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Under Republic Act (RA) 9593, otherwise known as the Tourism Act of 2009, the DOT is tasked to develop a system of standards for the accreditation, which are mandatory for primary tourism enterprises and voluntary accreditation for secondary tourism enterprises.”

“Primary tourism enterprises” refers to 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 others that the secretary may identified in consultation with relevant sectors. “Secondary tourism enterprises” refers to those not identified as primary enterprises.

The DOT can impose fines and other penalties for violations, including cancellation of an enterprise’s accreditation, all in accordance with the gravity of the offense.

Many tourism enterprises nationwide, however, have been operating without DOT accreditation, a problem that keeps cropping up whenever tourists and other consumers complain about a certain travel agency, tour operator, hotel, etc. DOT officials have been encouraging tourists to only book their accommodations or tours with accredited establishments to protect them from unscrupulous practices.

Bueno said when RA 9353 was promulgated, the DOT signed a memorandum of agreement with the DILG and the DENR, as well as other concerned agencies with regard to tourism development. This includes helping in the fulfillment of DOT-accreditation rules.

“So we’re working on the enforcement of mandatory accreditation through this, the Boracay model. We might really have a new instrument signed among DOT, DENR and DILG [to make it nationwide],” she said.

On the issue of continuity of the memorandum of agreement after the Duterte administration, or the possibility that RA 9353 be amended to strengthen the accreditation regulations, Bueno said, “DOJ [Department of Justice] is reviewing all legal instruments pertaining to Boracay. In the next meeting of the task force, we can put forward how [the MOA on enforcing tourism accreditation] be institutionalized.”

She added that the DOT is also looking at forging a MOA with the Department of Trade and Industry on consumer protection, “because we’ve received complaints on non-accredited enterprises.”

According to the DOT web site, the benefits and incentives of accreditation include: “Endorsem*nt to embassies and travel trade association/s for utilization of establishment’s facilities and services; eligibility for participation in travel fairs; priority to DOT training programs; endorsem*nt to international airports for issuance of access pass to qualified personnel [for two years accredited tour operators and accommodation establishments only]; endorsem*nts to the Commission on Elections for exemption from liquor ban during election-related events [for accommodation establishments and restaurants only]; free online/print advertising in national dailies; and promotion of events in Facebook page and other social-media sites.”