THE Department of Tourism (DOT) and the hoteliers aim to overhaul the country’s hotel and accommodation industry in the next 10 years, including adopting new standards.
Benito Bengzon, executive director of the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (Phoa) made the announcement during the second day of the first-ever VisMin Tourism Congress 2023 on Friday July 14, 2023 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
Bengzon said Phoa, formerly known as the Philippine Hotel Federation, has an ongoing partnership with the DOT for the formulation of the Philippine Hotel Industry Strategic Action Plan (Phisap) that revamps the industry and seeks to address the challenges faced by the country’s hotel industry.
Phisap’s strategic direction also includes the expansion of the economic opportunities in the hotel industry and driving forward the enhancement of the industry’s global competitiveness.
“It is basically a roadmap that will tell us what kind of room inventory we will see in the next 10 years,” Benzon said in his speech entitled “How hotels are adjusting to travel trends and shifting consumer preferences.”
The action plan allows the hoteliers and tourism industry players to identify which areas or regions in the country have high demand for additional hotel and accommodation establishments.
Also included in the roadmap, Benzon stressed, is reconfiguring the National Accommodation Standards (NAS) to match the high-quality hospitality services from other leading Southeast Asian countries.
Low room inventory
In comparison to other countries in Southeast Asia, Benzon said the Philippines is currently facing low room inventory for hotel and resort accommodation.
In a Go Tourism Summit forum last May 6, Benzon also made the same remark as to the status of the hotel industry in the country when he emphasized bumping up room inventory in major and emerging tourism destinations in the country to catch up with the other popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia.
“That is the thing that we are trying to address, to bump up the inventory (and) to increase the capacity, so that development will be in sync with the upgrade and development of the strategic infrastructure,” Benzon said.
Increasing the number of hotel rooms will also be beneficial for Cebu, Benzon said, stressing the various improvements and developments of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport since its privatization that has attracted more tourist arrivals.
Accommodation standard
Benzon stressed that there is a need to upgrade the NAS for Hotels, Resorts and Apartment Hotels dated in 2012.
It uses the Star Rating System that employs a points-based rating system focused on inventory, availability, condition and quality of a specific facility or service.
“To put it in a simpler form, once you finalize the checklist, you want to make sure that five-star properties in Manila will have the same amenities, facilities and the same experience for the tourist when they go to a five-star hotel in Bangkok, Singapore or elsewhere,” Bengzon said.
Reconfiguring the NAS will cover seven key dimensions starting from Arrival & Departure, Public Areas, Bedroom, Bathrooms, Food & Beverage, Amenities & Services, and Business Practices, he added.
This is to make the industry standards in the country globally competitive.
“As far as timetable is concerned, we and the Department are looking to roll this out by the third quarter of this year,” Benzon said. / EHP