Tourism industry leaders rally behind DOT's Lim

MANILA, Philippines - Leaders of tourism organizations have rallied behind of Tourism Secretary Alberto Aldaba Lim.

Aileen C. Clemente, president of Rajah Travel Corp. and president of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), has assured Lim of their support, urging the DOT chief to just work on getting the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) and the Country Brand project that are in the works approved by the President.

The DOT has taken decades to fix itself without a proper structure. The Tourism Act of 2009 takes a reasonable amount of time to prepare for proper implementation and the DOT has taken extreme efforts in doing proper private and public sector consultation.

“Secretary Lim should not worry about criticisms coming from those outside of our industry since those who are really involved in tourism in this country and have been in the industry for decades know that what he is doing is good for the country and good for tourism.”

Clemente added that the NTDP is the roadmap or plan that will make us achieve our target of 3.7 million foreign visitors in 2011; and, 6.3 million international arrivals and 32 million domestic travelers generating P1.3 trillion in expenditure and 5.16 million jobs in 2016, “That is a tall order. And, if anyone can lead us towards such a great accomplishment as an industry and as a nation – it is no less than Bertie Lim and President Aquino.”

Avelino Zapanta, CEO of Southeast Asian Airlines, says of Lim: “Happy that the industry has a decent and hardworking secretary. We fully support Secretary Lim.” He added that since assuming office, Lim had been pushing for bold policy reforms that will help ensure a sustainable growth for Philippine tourism.

Even the tourism players in Davao expressed support for the secretary. Mary Ann Montemayor, chairperson of the Davao Region Tourism Council, in behalf of the tourism councils and private sector individuals in the Davao Region, cited the valuable and vigorous support of the DOT led by Secretary Lim for their programs and projects, effectively positioning Davao as an ecotourism and MICE destination.

 “A lot of us in the private sector welcomed the appointment of Secretary Lim. He came from our ranks and therefore understands the intricacies and needs of the industry. Unfortunately, Secretary Lim inherited quite a number of problems which take time to resolve, especially with consultations being held with public and private sector representatives throughout the country. The secretary is on the right track and we are confident that the results will be more apparent in the coming months,”   Marciano C. Ragaza , a member of the PTAA board where he once served as president.

The Hotel Federation also expressed support for efforts to unify the tourism industry and move forward under Secretary Lim’s leadership.

“From the very start, the Tourism Congress was opposed to my nomination and appointment as Secretary of Tourism. This is because I have always advocated wider private sector participation by all accredited tourism enterprises in the membership of the Tourism Congress as mandated by law,” said Lim in a statement.

DOT is now in the process of revising the IRR of R.A. No. 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009, as instructed by the House Committee of Tourism in order to better conform with the spirit and letter of the law and will resolve existing sentiments of disenfranchisement within the tourism industry.

According to the tourism chief, nationwide consultations were conducted at the grassroots level by all DOT regional offices, “I have instructed our regional directors to have consultations directly with accredited enterprises because many of them were excluded from membership in the present Tourism Congress. A copy of the proposed revisions was made available at the Department of Tourism’s website which the members of the Tourism Congress could easily download. An email address was also provided in the website where comments are to be sent to.”

The house committee on tourism supported moves to revise sections in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9593 (otherwise known as the Tourism Act of 2009) anytime. “Secretary Lim may revise the IRR to conform to the law even if we do not direct him to do so,” said Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, one of the main authors of the Tourism Act which created the Tourism Congress.