PRELIMINARY SITE ASSESSMENT
AND ITS IMPORTANCE
Before carrying out a full- blown assessment
is critical to conduct a preliminary
evaluation of the study area. Although the
preliminary site evaluation (PSE) contained
in DENR DAO 2013- 19 was designed for
protected areas. PSE can be applied to the
tourism sites. PSE can help to provide a
picture of how ready to place is for tourism.
A place’s general tourism read less could be
gauged by classifying its attraction/ sites as
being existing, emerging, or potential.
An existing attraction/site is one of where
supply demand for tourism are already
established. An emerging tourist
attraction/site is one where the supply and
demand are still in the inception or
development stage. A potential
attraction/site is basically a greenfield or an
area without tourism structures and visitors
but which has outstanding aesthetic appeal.
MAJOR CONSIDERATION IN THE
PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT
Hazard and Security Issues One red flag is
the presence of serious hazards in the area
study. Good sources for this information are
the LGU’s CLUP which usually contains a
section on identified hazards and
susceptibility to such hazards, Disaster
Response and Recovery Management Plan
(DRRM) Plan (LCCAP). Hazards can be
natural or man- made. Extreme weather
conditions pr geological phenomena may
bring about natural hazards.
They include the threats of typhoons, storm
surges, flooding, erosion, landslides,
earthquakes, volcanic eruption, and extreme
heat, which could spark wildfires. Planners
may evaluate these hazards in terms of their
frequency, severity, and extent of affected
areas. Man- made hazards include
insurgency, terrorism, serious crimes, and
infection diseases, such as COVID-19.
Newspaper and military and police provide
information about these security problems.
Control and Ownership of the Land
DOT et al, (2017) identify land ownership
as among the salient factors that need to be
assessed in tourism planning. The DOT et al,
(2017) favor government – owned lands
over private lands. This is because of LGU
will have free hand in developing tourism in
a government – owned area but not privately
owned land.
The government cannot fund projects in
privately owned land, protected area,
indigenous people’s ancestral domains, or
those under the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program. There is a need to secure
permission from protected Area
Management Board (PAMB) is a protected
area Authorization from the indigenous
peoples (IP) community chieftains and the
National Commission for IP (NCIP) will
need to be confirmed if it is an ancestral
domain.
The process could be difficult but not
impossible. There are examples of protected
areas manage by private firm and where the
firm operated resorts. The government is not
allowed to use public funds on private
property. For example, if a resort owner asks
the LGU to improve the private road leading
to their resorts, he/ she will be denied.
However, if he/she donates to the LGU the
land where the road is located, the LGU can
already finance it. Contested lands or those
with more than one claimant will also be
headache to the headache to the developer if
not resolve early on.