Tourism office in all LGUs pushed
Under the proposed Tourism Code of the Province of Cebu, all municipalities and component cities are encouraged to create their respective municipal tourism offices.
Section 2 of Article V highlights the components of human resource infrastructure needed for the realization of the Code if approved.
It stated that local tourism offices should have qualified manpower component and sufficient budgetary allocation for operation.
“Tourism programs shall be geared towards the fulfillment of the needs of the key players and stakeholders of the tourism industry. For this purpose, local government units in partnership with private investors shall join hands to,” it read.
At present, not all the 51 local government units in Cebu have tourism office. In most cases, there are only appointed tourism officers.
On another matter, no foreign guides or escorts will be allowed to serve in the Province if approved.
Under Section 3 Legal and Regulatory Infrastructure, it stated that all tour guides or escorts shall be Cebuanos one year after the effectivity of the Code.
Only when there are no available local tour guides or escorts that speak the language of a particular foreign tourist market can travel and tour organizer can hire “accredited” guides as understudy.
The penalty for violations has not been part of the released draft yet.
Another provision of the proposed Tourism Code is the classification of tourism destinations.
“The Provincial Tourism Office, in coordination with the Provincial Tourism Council and respective LGUs, shall on an annual basis, classify tourism sites as destinations in accordance with the DOT (Department of Tourism) standards as existing, emerging, and potential destination,” stated in Article IX.
With this, tourism destinations that are given higher classification category shall be included among the priority for promotion and marketing.
Moreover, the classification will guide tour operators and tourist where to go and what to do.
With the numerous provisions of the Code, a monitoring and evaluation system will also be established in order to evaluate the economic, social, and environmental impact of all tourism activities.
“They shall cover factors that are crucial to the sustainability of the tourism resources in accordance with the provisions of this Code. Monitoring and evaluation indicators should include service quality and participation of local communities,” stated Article C Section 1.
If the Code will be approved by the Provincial Board, all ordinances, orders, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with its provisions will be repealed.