Founded: 11 May 1973, Philippines

Jurisdiction: Philippines

Annual budget: 2.5 billion PHP (2015)

Department executive: Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Secretary

Headquarters: Manila, Bel-Air, Makati

Mission :

 Generating foreign currency and employment

 Spreading the benefits of tourism to a wider segment of the population with the
support, assistance and cooperation of both the private and public sector
 Ensuring the safe , convenient , enjoyable stay and travel of foreign and local
visitors in the Philippines.
Vision :

 Aims to improve accessibility of travel destinations

 Make tourism products is better and more affordable
 Promote a culture of tourism among local residents
 Increase recognition of tourism as an effective and efficient tool towards socio-
economic development of the Philippines.

Started as a private initiative to promote the Philippines as a major travel

destination, the Philippine Tourist & Travel Association was organized in 1950. In 1956,
the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry was created by Congress As stipulated in the
Integrated Reorganization Plan in 1972 sanctioned as a law under Presidential Decree
No. 1, as amended, the Department of Trade and Tourism was established,
reorganizing the then Department of Commerce and Industry. A Philippine Tourism
Commission was created under the unified Trade and Tourism Department to oversee
the growth of the tourism industry as a source of economic benefit for the country.

In 1973, President Ferdinand Marcos created a new cabinet-level Department of

Tourism (DOT) by splitting the Department of Trade and Tourism into two separate
departments. Included in the new Department of Tourism, the agency Philippine
Tourism Authority (PTA) and the Philippine Convention Bureau (PCB) were created.
The Department of Tourism was then renamed Ministry of Tourism as a result of the
shift in the form of government pursuant to the enforcement of the 1973 Constitution.

What is the mandate of the Department of Tourism (DOT)? The DOT is the
primary planning, programming, coordinating, implementing and regulatory government
agency in the development and promotion of the tourism industry, both domestic and
international, in coordination with attached agencies and other government
instrumentalities. It shall instill in the Filipino the industry’s fundamental importance in
the generation of employment, investment and foreign exchange.

DOT’s powers and functions? The DOT shall prepare a market development
program to attract people to visit the Philippines and enhance the prestige of the country
and the Filipino people in the international community. It shall also represent the
government in all domestic and international conferences and fora, and in all multilateral
or bilateral treaties and international agreements concerning tourism.
 What is the structure of DOT? The DOT shall consist of the Department Proper
(Offices of the Secretary, Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries), Department
Offices, Services and Unit, and the Regional and Foreign Offices. The Department
Offices are:

Office of Product Development. –

Functions include the conceptualization and development of new products which will
enhance tourism sites and facilities, and encouraging joint undertakings with the private
sector for the development of new tourism-related products and programs.

Office of Tourism Development Planning, Research and Information Management.

– Tasked with the preparation, formulation monitoring and evaluation of policies, plans
and programs of the DOT, including the National Tourism Development Plan. It is also
tasked with sourcing of grants or loans from local and foreign funding institutions to
implement tourism policies, plans and projects, as well as pursuing DOT’s interests in
multilateral, international, and regional tourism cooperation, agreements and treaties.

Office of Industry Manpower Development.

– It is tasked, among others, of conducting seminars on Philippine history, culture,

environment and related subjects, in coordination with appropriate government
agencies and the private sector, as well as encouraging the development of training
courses and apprenticeship programs for tourist guides and other similar workers jointly
with concerned tourism enterprises, appropriate government agencies and the private
sector.

Office of Tourism Standards and Regulations.

– Tasked with formulating and enforcing internationally competitive standards of

facilities and services.
Office of Tourism Coordination.

– Tasked to increase linkages between various government offices and the private
sector and among the various entities in the private sector itself to properly implement
tourism policy, including the function of supporting the private sector in all tourism
activities requiring governmental coordination.

Office of Tourism Resource Generation.

– This office is tasked with the collection of necessary fees and charges which shall be
used by the DOT in the promotion and marketing efforts of the Tourism Promotions
Board (TPB ) and the development of infrastructure facilities, utilities and services of the
Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA). The proceeds of such
collection shall accrue directly and automatically to the DOT.

What is the Tourism Development Fund?

This is a special fund created under this law, to be disbursed and administered
by the DOT. It shall be used for the development, promotion and marketing of tourism
and other projects of the DOT that will boost tourism in the country. The Fund shall be
sourced from the fees and charges which will be collected by the DOT. A special
account shall be established for this Fund in the National Treasury.

Tourism Infrastructure Program.

The DOT, in accordance with the National Tourism Development Plan and local
government initiatives, shall coordinate with the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC)
in the establishment of a tourism infrastructure program in the respective work programs
of said agencies, identifying therein vital access roads, airports, seaports and other
infrastructure requirement in identified tourism areas. The said agencies and the
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall accord priority status to the
funding of this tourism infrastructure program.