The Department of Tourism (DOT) on February 21 announced the extension of its Memorandum Circular (MC) 2022-001 which waives accreditation fees for tourism establishments.
According to Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, the DOT foresees the move as such that would assist tourism enterprises in their recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DOT MC 2022-001 or the Revised Interim Guidelines Governing Applications for Accreditation During The State of Calamity Due to COVID-19 is anchored on the Presidential Proclamation No. 57 s. 2022 which further extended the period of state of calamity in the Philippines until 31 December 2022.
“While the proclamation on the period of state calamity in the country has ended, we at the DOT discern the need to continue, for as long as essential, measures that will support our stakeholders in their process of recouping the devastating losses incurred in the almost three years that the tourism industry was brought to a standstill due to the pandemic,” Secretary Frasco said.
In addition to the waived accreditation fees, the DOT MC 2022-001 contains salient points that were aptly aligned by the Department with the issuances of the national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). Among these include the streamlining of documentary requirements for accreditation as well as the conduct of virtual inspections in lieu of physical inspections.
Secretary Frasco noted, however, that pertinent updates were already made to some of the provisions in the Memorandum Circular that the Department released on 24 March 2022.
Additionally, the DOT also targets the resumption of new applications for Star Rating and Premium Accreditation—suspended under Section 6 under the Memorandum Circular—by next month.
Meanwhile, as applications for Basic Registration will remain discontinued, the DOT encourages enterprises with expiring Basic Registration to instead apply for a Regular Accreditation.
Tourism establishments may apply for accreditation online thru the DOT’s Online Accreditation System: https://accreditation.tourism.gov.ph/login.
