Bacolod City – A resolution urging the City Tourism Office through the Office of the City Mayor to establish a system of gathering data on visitor arrivals and reporting the same regularly to the Sangguniang Panlungsod, was approved by the Bacolod SP recently.
The resolution authored by Councilor Em Ang said Section 2 of Republic Act No. 9593, or the Tourism Act of 2009 provides that, “The State declares tourism as an indispensable element of the national economy and an industry of national interest and importance, which must be harnessed as an engine of socioeconomic growth and cultural affirmation to generate investment, foreign exchange and employment, and to continue to mold an enhanced sense of national pride for all Filipinos.”
Section 38 under the same law mandates all local government units (LGUs) to gather data such as tourist arrivals and periodically report the same to the Department of Tourism, it said.
The resolution said Section 3 of City Ordinance No. 826 series of 2017 requires all tourism accommodation establishments, travel agencies, resorts, museums, galleries and all identified tourism sites in Bacolod City to submit a regular monthly report on tourist statistics data to the City Tourism Office prior to the issuance of their tourism clearance.
The City Tourism Office shall also establish a system of regularly monitoring, tracking and recording visitor arrivals in the city, it said.
The data gathered will be used to prepare sustainable tourism development plans for the city and to evaluate the economic impact of tourism, the resolution added. (Chrysee Semillano via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)