DOT: Making the Philippines More Fun to Visit

The Department of Tourism has been a subject of major controversy lately. After its flop launch of the 'Pilipinas Kay Ganda' campaign, attention has again been pointed to the agency and its major role in promoting tourism. Suddenly, people has been interested with the agency and what does it really contribute in day-to-day government operations. With our visit of the department, we learned a lot of interesting things, especially when we talk about the Philippine bureaucracy. First, the department has a peculiar structure than most departments they do not have bureaus or regional arms, just a plain grouping of offices. It is also interesting to note why the agency has a lot of government corporations under it, such as the Duty Free and the Nayong Pilipino. It even has an agency specific to scuba diving. The resource person we had on the talk pointed out to certain laws that has been passed re-organizing the agency. Next to it is their own tourism development plan in line with the Philippine Development Plan of President Aquino. They described it as a bottom-up work, with extensive coordination with local government units, the private sector and other stakeholders. What has caught most of our attention was their tourism clusters in which certain areas will be grouped and developed according to their offerings. As always, our expectations of their choice of areas has been confirmed, that is why I asked during the discussion the reasons why certain regions, such as the Cagayan Valley or ARMM are not considered as prime tourist spots. Among the problems plaguing the agency, the resource person has mentioned the same things we hear on media security/terrorists threats, lack of infrastructure, crowding of investment in certain areas, lack of promotion and branding. But it has been concluded during the discussion that these concerns are not really a responsibility of the agency itself but by other agencies, such as the DPWH and the police. Nevertheless, the DOT has been active in

coordinating with these agencies in formulating tourism-oriented programs, such as a separate police force in tourist spots and formulation of infrastructure priorities. It has also been noted that the agency has been encouraging the private sector to invest in underdeveloped tourist areas, and that the amount of investments is steadily increasing. In line with the goal of the administration to achieve 10 million tourist arrivals by 2016 and transforming tourism into a major economic contributor, the DOT now serves more as an coordinating agency, partnering with private stakeholders. In public administration parlance, it makes more 'steering' than rowing, formulating policy and programs and setting targets in which the private sector is encouraged to fill. Tourism is expected to make huge impact in the economy in the next few years, and with that, we should have a close watch with the DOT and how it will achieve its goals. We never know what this lowly agency has for us to be surprised!