The huge fund allocation for the country’s tourism initiatives and a stronger tourism mandate under the Republic Act 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009 require the establishment of an accountability system and close private sector monitoring to ensure that targets and projects are met and delivered.

Samie Lim, chairman of the tourism committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), stressed this as the government is finalizing the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Tourism Act. The IRR is expected to be completed by November 11.

Lim cited the government for having gotten their acts together in the passage of the Tourism Act, but also stressed the need to keep a close tab in the implementation of projects to meet the objectives of the law.

For instance, Lim noted that the Tourism Promotion Board, formerly the Philippine Conventions and Visitors Corporation (PCVC), has a P500 million budget annually in the first five years to be taken from the net income of the Duty-Free Shopping Corp. and an allocation from the national government to be taken from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

"This is huge money so we have to be working closely with them and make them accountable," Lim said. Under the law, 50 percent of the TPB budget shall be spent for marketing and promotion and not more than 10 percent for administration and operating expenses.

The TPB shall formulate and implement an integrated domestic and international promotions and marketing program for the Department of Tourism.

In the case of Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), which is the reorganized The Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), it has an authorized capitalization of P250 million to be taken from travel tax collection. Fifty percent of the travel tax collection would go to TIEZA.

The TIEZA shall designate, regulate and supervise the TEZs established under this Act, as well as develop, manage and supervise tourism infrastructure projects in the country. It shall supervise and regulate the cultural, economic and environmentally sustainable development of tourism enterprise zones (TEZs) toward the primary objective of encouraging investments therein. It shall ensure strict compliance of the TEZ operator with the approved development plan. Pursuant thereto, the TIEZA shall have the power to impose penalties for failure or refusal of the tourism enterprises to comply with the approved development plan, which shall also be considered a violation of the terms of accreditation.