Tourism stakeholders urged to take active role in improving RP tourism

Tourism stakeholders were urged to take an active part in improving the country's tourism industry by getting involved in the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the Tourism Act of 2009 by Senator Richard J. Gordon (Ind.).

"What needs to be done is to get the tourism business organized. You all know what the industry needs and you must act now and take the bull by the horns," he said during the general meeting of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa).

"All of you in the tourism industry must work together and draft an IRR. Go to the provinces and look for potential tourism enterprise zones and create tourism packages. You have to organize the industry. Do not let the others dictate the pace for you; you must dictate the pace yourself," he added.

Gordon said that the tourism law, which he principally authored, states that representatives from different sectors of the tourism industry shall be part of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) Board.

"A Tourism Related Industry Congress (TRI-CON) will be convened so that tourism stakeholders can choose the people who are going to occupy--not for title, but for development of the industry--positions in the Tourism Promotions Board and the TIEZA," Gordon, a former tourism secretary, said.

The Tourism Promotions Board shall be responsible for marketing and promoting the Philippines domestically and internationally as a major global tourism destination, highlighting the uniqueness and assisting the development of its tourism products, with the end in view of increasing tourist arrivals and tourism investments.

Meanwhile, the TIEZA Board shall supervise and regulate the cultural, economic and environmentally sustainable development of tourism enterprise zones, which are areas that will be developed to lure domestic and foreign investors and tourists.

"The government and the tourism stakeholders must work hand in hand to make the tourism law effective. With the faithful implementation of this law, the nation can have a better institution to regulate and promote tourism and install the necessary infrastructures to make our country truly world-class," Gordon said.