THE Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) announced it is supporting the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) move to increase fines and strengthen sanctions against accredited tourism enterprises violating health protocols due to a rising number of infractions committed especially during the pandemic.
TCP President Jose C. Clemente III told the BusinessMirror the organization “supports the DOT regarding the review of penalties for those tourism enterprises violating the guidelines set forth during the pandemic.”
“As much as we want to get the situation under control, the stakeholders have to do their part,” he said.
He added that “in light of violations being reported and discovered, stiffer penalties may need to be imposed to hammer home the seriousness of the effects of the pandemic.”
Clemente said, “This is not the time to be playing around and circumventing the guidelines. We must be the example of compliance, not the problem.”
The DOT is looking at getting tougher on violators of its regulations, with the latest being allegedly committed by City Garden Grand Hotel in Makati City, which allowed the check-in of guests for a staycation, despite being a quarantine hotel. The issue came to light after the lifeless body of flight attendant, Christine Angela Dacera, was found in the bathroom of a guest room after a night of New Year’s Eve revelry. (See, “DOT eyes tougher sanctions on hotel-violators; City Garden under fire for flight attendant’s death,” in the BusinessMirror, January 6, 2021.)
DOT National Capital Region is expected to release this week the findings of its investigation into City Garden Grand’s possible violations, after the hotel already responded to agency’s show-cause order.
Clemente also said, the DOT “may also be a need to review penalties in general for violations by stakeholders and other tourism enterprises moving forward.”
The DOT recently levied a P10,000-fine on Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Mactan, Cebu for “acts detrimental to the tourism industry,” under the DOT’s Progressive Accreditation System. (See, “Plantation Bay gets slap on the wrist on guest dispute re: autism,” in the BusinessMirror, January 7, 2020.)
Meanwhile, the DOT reiterated there were only 15 accredited accommodation establishments in Metro Manila that operate as staycation hotels as of January 5, 2021.
These are: Grand Hyatt Hotel, Makati Shangri-La, Okada Manila, Shangri-La at the Fort, Nobu at the City of Dreams (COD), Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites Manila, Edsa Shangri-La Manila, Solaire Resort and Casino, Hyatt Regency (COD), Nuwa (COD), The Peninsula Manila, Aruga by Rockwell, Sheraton Manila, Hilton Manila, and Hotel Okura Manila.
Other establishments not in the list are either operating as quarantine hotels, which are banned from accepting guests for leisure purposes or continue to be closed.
“We would like to correct the misperception that all four- or five-star rated accommodation establishments can operate as staycation hotels,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat was quoted in a statement as saying.
“For such a hotel to accept guests for leisure purposes, it has to first apply for a Certificate of Authority to Operate as Staycation hotel,” she said. “With the authority is the responsibility to strictly adhere to the minimum health and safety guidelines.”
“One has to pass the rigid inspection to ascertain that measures and systems are put in place and diligently practiced on a daily basis,” the Tourism chief added. “It cannot, above all things, concurrently operate as a quarantine facility.”