THE Mandaue City government will soon require primary and secondary tourism enterprises to secure a tourism compliance certificate (TCC) from the Mandaue City Tourism Office.
This, after the Mandaue City Council approved on first reading the draft ordinance that requires the tourism enterprises to secure a TCC, during the 73rd regular session on Dec. 9, 2020.
Mandaue City Councilor Marie Immaline Cortes-Zafra, the chairperson of the committee on tourism, convened with the members of the committee together with the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) on Jan. 4, 2020.
In an interview, Zafra said once the draft ordinance gets passed, the TCC will be included in the requirements for the renewal of business permits at the BPLO.
The establishments that need to secure TCCs are those primary tourism establishments and secondary tourism establishments.
The primary tourism enterprises include accommodation establishments such as hotels, resorts, apartments, tourist inns, pension houses, motels and homestays.
The secondary tourism enterprises refer to establishments offering travel and tour services, health and wellness services and tourism-related enterprises such as malls, agri-tourism farms, restaurants, museums, galleries, rest areas and shooting ranges, among others.
According to Zafra, the draft ordinance was in line with the Republic Act 9593, also known as the Tourism Act of 2009, which mandates tourism establishments to submit data to the Department of Tourism (DOT).
Zafra said the city needs to require the TCC because the City Tourism Office (CTO) has had a hard time gathering data from the establishments.
The establishments usually directly submit all their necessary data to the DOT and bypass the lcoal government unit when in fact, the City Tourism Office also has to submit these data to the national and provincial government.
Zafra said this ordinance has to be in place to have a check and balance and to promote transparency of data.
Since the ordinance has yet to undergo the second and final readings, Zafra said the TCC will not be included yet in the requirements for the BPLO’s one-stop shop business permit renewal.
Once the ordinance will be approved, the City Tourism Office will be one of the regulators of the business permit.
Zafra said the CTO will be the one to inspect establishments before they can acquire the TCC.
The CTO will check if the establishment is DOT-accredited, has a child protection policy and is compliant with basic health protocol. (KFD)