DOT readies homestay accommodations

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is readying homes in the countryside areas to host the increasing tourist arrivals who are now trooping to unchartered destinations.

According to DOT assistant secretary Arturo Boncato the agency is working with community-based households to open their homes to tourists for the traditional homestay program.

Unlike the home sharing platform Airbnb, the traditional homestay program is hosting tourists in a household as part of culture immersion activity.

Boncato said encouraging families to open their homes to tourists, “is an opportunity for us to showcase our community and hyping on transparent tourism. In today’s shift of travelers’ preference when “budget tourism is the rule of the day”, Boncato said the Philippines is on track with the new trend.

In fact, study showed that luxury tourism is a bit old-fashion, and homegrown tourism is currently the trend.

Earlier, Colliers International Philippines research manager Joey Roi Bondoc said DOT must provide more training for its home-stay initiative to lure in more homeowners and tourists to participate in the program.

Bondoc said Colliers has been seeing good potential in the home-stay market particularly with the tourism department’s aggressive promotion of tourist spots in the countryside.

The lack of quality accommodation in the rural areas should drive the demand for this type of accommodation.

The home-stay program provides tourists alternative accommodation offered by locals, which involves board and lodging while sharing the Filipino culture and lifestyle to their guests.

The DOT and local tourism offices also provides training and accreditation to elevate the Philippine home-stay program into the standards at par with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).