Finally, a response from the tourism office

We would have wanted to move to other iss­­­­­­­­ues after writing two articles about the problems plaguing our tourism industry, but las­t Thursday afternoon, I finally got a letter from Department of Tourism (DOT) Undersecretary Maria Victoria V. Jasmin who handles tourism regulation, coordination and resource generation. So here is her letter in full: 

“Dear Mr. Avila, I am writing in reaction to your column of July 16 regarding the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP). In compliance with the Government Procurement Reform Act otherwise known as Republic Act 9184, the Department of Tourism invited bidders to participate in the formulation of the National Tourism Development Plan. I was the chairperson of the Bids and Awards Committee that evaluated the bids for the NTDP and I take full responsibility for the choice of Indra Philippines Inc., in joint venture with Asia Pacific Projects Inc. (APPI), to undertake such an important project as the NTDP. Their bid was rated as the Highest Responsive among the five companies who tendered their bids. This is clearly reflected in the evaluation of the quality of their personnel as well as their experience and capability.

“Indra Philippines has a business line within the Indra Group called Tourism and Leisure (T&L)-Europraxis Consulting which has vast experience in the tourism industry. T&L Europraxis is based in Barcelona and it is the company that fielded experts to the project, especially in marketing and tourism standards/accreditation – two areas which need an international perspective. T&L Europraxis Inc. has conducted several tourism plans and strategies in South and Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

“Asia Pacific Projects Inc., on the other hand, is a boutique tourism and hospitality consulting firm founded in the Philippines in 1992 by Mr. Ludwig Rieder and former Tourism Secretary Narzalina Lim. APPI is in the roster of consulting firms of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which contracted the firm to do the tourism master plans of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China, among many other international destinations. APPI has won bids in the Asian Development Bank to do the tourism strategy for the Mekong countries and the sustainable tourism development plan, also for the Mekong countries. All the consultants fielded by the Indra/APPI tandem have impeccable credentials and successful track records in the local and international tourism scene and this is what gave their bid great weight.

“There were sixteen (16) national and regional consultations held with tourism stakeholders attended by over 1,000 participants from January to April 2011, to give inputs to the NTDP. Two of these were held in Cebu. The plan has incorporated the suggestions of stakeholders, both from the public and private sectors. I can truly say that the whole process was participative and that the NTDP provides a clear road map and action plan for tourism development up to 2016, which is what RA 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009 mandates. In the interest of fairness and balance reporting, I would be grateful if you can print this letter in your column. Thank you and best regards.”

Thanks, Undersecretary Jasmin for this clarificatory letter. Let me assure you that we’ve always been very fair. Let me point out that in our July 16 column we never contested or questioned the bidding for the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) nor did we ever hint that there was some irregularity involved. What we merely said was that the NTDP was a rehash of the old tourism master plan of the previous administrations. But Undersecretary Jasmin never answered that part in her letter. So it puts into question whether the expense for getting Indra Philippines is justifiable or not. If the NTDP was a master plan, what we would like to know is where are the inputs of Indra that are entirely new and not taken from the old plan?

She also mentions the participation of Asia Pacific Projects Inc. owned by former DOT Secretary Narzalina Lim, which I only learned about recently. Now whether APPI is a consultant of the DOT or Indra Philippines was not also revealed. Again, we are not questioning their credentials. For sure Lim’s presence is a tremendous boost to the credibility of that report. But until we get to know how much was Indra’s contribution and what was retained from the old master plan, people in the industry would still suspect that all this is nothing but a rehash of the old one.

Finally, Undersecretary Jasmin said there were 16 national and regional consultations held with tourism stakeholders and two of them were done in Cebu, but alas, she didn’t give us any specific dates. The only tourism consultation that I know of was held last July 8 when former DOT regional director Maria Rica Buena, now DOT director for tourism standards, came to Cebu for a consultation meeting at the Ayala Business Park. Maybe I missed that consultation meeting or I wasn’t invited to participate in it.

* * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. Avila’s columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.