DOT receives $7.1-M technical assistance grant from Canada

MANILA, Philippines - The Canadian government has granted the Department of Tourism (DOT) a $7.1-million assistance to help the country lure more foreign tourists and investors.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said the DOT is set to implement various skills and training programs in Cebu, Palawan, Bohol and Davao upon receiving the technical assistance grant from Canada.

Jimenez said the DOT formally forged yesterday the agreement with the Canadian government for the implementation of the Technical Assistance on Improving Competitiveness in Tourism program.

The grant, according to Jimenez, is a positive development as the DOT is exerting all efforts to lure as much as 10 million international visitors and over 56 million domestic travelers by 2016.

“We should be ready to improve the tourism plan and enhance the quality of our services to ensure higher visitor satisfaction levels, which will trigger word-of-mouth marketing. Through this undertaking, the Philippines will be more competitive with the rest of the destinations in the Asia-Pacific,” Jimenez said.

Aside from boosting the tourism industry, the DOT also hopes to create more employment opportunities and provide local government units with better capacity to improve their regulations in attracting more investments and tourism activities.

The technical assistance from Canada came shortly after the World Economic Forum recognized the Philippines as the “most improved country” in its 2013 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.

The Philippines is up 12 spots from 94th in 2011 to 82nd in 2012 out of 139 countries. The index measures the factors and policies that contribute to the attractiveness to develop the travel and tourism sector in different countries.

“While we continue to receive recognitions from global organizations and publications, the challenge for all of us in the tourism sector is to ensure that the promise of ‘fun’ is complemented on the ground with competitive physical and social infrastructure: from our products to the cost of doing business and human resources. This gesture of the government of Canada and the ADB (Asian Development Bank) is a recognition of the role of tourism as a key driver of economic development in the country,” Jimenez said.

The technical assistance will result in three key outputs over a four-year period: a regulatory review, service standards improvement, and skills development, Jimenez said.