TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Tourism (DOT) is confident that hotel business will continue to flourish in the region as tourist arrivals steadily increase over the past years.
The DOT reported that in 2012, there were only 413 accommodation establishments in the region with 5,824 rooms. After three years, in 2015, the number of operating hotels went up to 469 with 6,341 rooms.
The number has increased despite damages caused by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013, said DOT Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes.
“When the result of the 2017 Accommodation Capacity Survey is completed, we are certain that these numbers will increase,” Tiopes said.
The survey on the existing hotels in operation is important to find out the capacity of an area to accommodate guests at a given time, she said.
“When we do our arrival forecast and increase our tourist arrival targets, these figures also give us a cue whether we should promote more investments in accommodation facilities,” Tiopes added.
In 2016, the region ushered 1.22 million visitors, a significant increase from the measly 365,000 arrivals in 2011.
Under a tourism roadmap drawn by the DOT, the region target to welcome 3.5 million domestic tourists and 90,000 foreign visitors.
With the increasing number of accommodation facilities, the next step is to push for accreditation of these establishments especially that more business realizes the value of DOT recognition.
“In the past, a large number of our tourism enterprises in the region did not value DOT accreditation. Today, however, to be competitive, it is imperative for businesses to adhere to standards that tourists now look for,” the official added.
“For this reason, we now see an increasing number of tourism-related business levels up the standards and quality of their facilities and services,” Tiopes said.
A DOT accreditation is a certification issued to tourism enterprises that 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.
The high number of accredited establishments is an indication of the market-readiness of a destination, according to the tourism department.
(MELVA MAE C. MENIANO)
