MANILA – Tourism enterprises can now apply for accreditation online after the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Tuesday launched its digital accreditation system.
The system, accessible through accreditation.tourism.gov.ph, would facilitate accreditation requests, contactless transactions, and hazard-free government services under the new normal.
Target users are accommodation establishments (AEs), travel and tour agencies, tourist transport operators, tourism front-liners, meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) facilities and organizers, health and wellness services, and other tourism-related enterprises like restaurants.
“This system fulfills President Duterte’s call for the streamlining and automation of services in the Ease of Doing Business Act signed in 2018 and the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, which directs government offices to expedite delivery of services in view of Covid-19," said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat during the virtual launch.
The accreditation portal is an upgraded version that provides for the creation of business accounts, email verification, real-time application status notification and an upcoming online payment system.
Once accredited, tourism enterprises are certified as having complied with the minimum standards for the operation of tourism facilities and services.
“Through the new system, we hope to ease the burden of local businesses, including the MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) who collectively form the backbone of the tourism industry,” Romulo-Puyat said.
Tourism Congress of the Philippines President Jose Clemente III, during the same forum, said the launch of the new portal is timely as mobility remains limited at present due to the pandemic.
"It will be an incentive also for more tourism establishments to get accredited because it comes easier, you don't need to leave your home or your office to get accredited," he said.
According to the DOT, a total of 10,042 tourism enterprises were accredited nationwide as of Sept. 15, up by 32.36 percent from the figure in 2019.
A total of 6,045 hotels, resorts and other accommodation establishments, meanwhile, were issued provisional/certificates of authority to operate during the community quarantine, in compliance with the DOT guidelines. (PNA)
