THE country will finally have a strategic, responsible tourism development plan by November this year following the completion of the implementing rules and regulations of the brand new Tourism Development Act of 2009.

Key players in the tourism industry held a two-day conference workshop at the Dusit Hotel in Makati to hammer out private sector suggestions on how the new law, Republic Act 9593 will be put into effect.

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The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) organized the workshop, called the National Tourism Dialogue.

The participants convened in four working groups after plenary presentations on tourism experiences of and challenges faced by other more successful countries in this industry.

The working groups were tasked to look into the provisions of the law and submit recommendations for the implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

Towards the end of the conference, the working group on accreditation and standards came out with the following suggestions:

* The coming out with objective basis in the accreditation of tourist enterprises preferably done by a third party;

* Detailing of a system of accrediting primary, secondary and tertiary tourism enterprises;

* Delineating the roles of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to set the direction for the plan and local government units to handle enforcement to prevent overlapping of functions; and

* Involving the private sector in making the new law work.
On incentives, one group tackled the issue suggesting that new tourist-oriented industries like the sunrise health and wellness sector and retirement village developers be covered by the incentive system.

It was likewise sought that the IRR should clarify whether the new incentives granted to tourism projects will complement or substitute the present incentives given in special economic zones and granted to new projects by the Board of Investments.

The group that tackled marketing destinations however asked for another week to finalize their recommendations, as they identified 24 critical issues on the subject and were to make suggestions in the operation of tourism enterprise zones akin to those organized for manufacturing firms in special economic zones.

The new law was hammered out by Congress and signed by the President, according to tourism czar Ace Durano, to build on the competitive strengths of the country in tourism.

Speaking before the gathered stakeholders, Durano revealed that in the quarterly exit surveys his office made on leaving foreign visitors, the hospitality of Filipinos was cited as the main reason why the tourists said they will recommend to their relatives and friends to visit the Philippines.

He further explained the hospitality mentioned was not by hotel and restaurant employees but the natural warmth of ordinary Filipinos in treating foreigners.

Durano further acknowledged that the tourism players made substantial investments in new facilities and expansion projects in the past few years that made the country break the three million visitors target this year despite the global recession and other obstacles to more rapid tourism growth. (Abe P. Belena/Philexport)