DOT-6 asks tourism establishments to get accreditation

Department of Tourism / Wikipedia Photo

ILOILO CITY — Department of Tourism Regional Director Atty. Helen J. Catalbas has asked all tourism–oriented and tourism–related establishments in Western Visayas to make their businesses DOT–accredited.

Director Catalbas said when a tourism establishment is accredited, visitors and tourists are assured that these enterprises have complied with the minimum and progressive levels of operating quality and internationally recognized standards for the operation and maintenance of their tourism facilities and services.

“We want our institutions to be accredited to ensure the service and facilities we offer to our guests and visitors are of ASEAN standards. With Western Visayas hosting various MICE activities comprise of foreign delegates, we need to level up our criteria. DOT’s goal is not to meet expectations but exceed them,” Director Catalbas said.

Accredited tourism establishments will have incentives such as inclusion of company profile in DOT websites where database-related information on all accredited establishments in the country is made available for foreign and local tourists and travelers’ consumption; entitled to subsidized human resource development seminars like waitering and bartending course, tour guiding, front office management, housekeeping and effective customer relations seminar; proper endorsement to concerned agencies for availment of incentives, exemption from Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or number–coding scheme, exemption from regular franchising process for accredited accommodation establishments to use a maximum of two shuttle service vehicles, grant of Certificate of Public Conveyance for tourist land transport operators, grant of accreditation as preferred travel agents servicing passport-seeking clients; and technical assistance and access to database information on travel and tourism like visitor arrival statistics, market profiles, domestic survey on domestic travel, among others.

As of last July 7, there are 125 DOT–accredited tourism–oriented and tourism–related establishments around Western Visayas; 15 are tourist transport operators, 40 resorts, 23 hotels, one apartment hotel/apartel, two tourist inns, 13 restaurants, two spas, 7 tour operators, 7 tour guides, 6 specialty shops, 4 tourism recreation, one department store/mall, one adventure/ecotourism facility and three agri-tourism farmsites.

“DOT Region 6 partners with LGUs in conducting trainings and utilizes the management staff of these tourism establishments to empower them. We will surely attract more tourists in our region if we give them unique experiences and excellent services they can find only in Western Visayas”, Director Catalbas said.