Tourism, trade agencies to tap strengths of SMEs

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Visayas will work together to link two major economic drivers in the region—tourism stakeholders and the small, medium enterprises (SME) sector.

DTI Regional Director Asteria Caberte said both agencies are signing an agreement to bridge both sectors and address the supply chain problem in the tourism industry.

Caberte called the collaboration “leveraging the industries’ supply chain,” which is an offshoot of efforts to address the effects of the economic crisis.

“We did a random survey among tourism stakeholders and found out about their needs like vegetables, spices, furniture, accessories and more, which our local SMEs can provide directly. So they don’t have to go very far or import these goods,” she said.

Caberte, however, said tourism stakeholders were only hesitant to source from SMEs because of fear of undersupply or not being able to meet their standards.

She said DTI and DOT would help address these concerns.

“Their issue is more on availability of supply when they need it and the amount of supply that the SMEs can handle as well as the standards. With the partnership we will have a more consolidated SMEs group and we will try to deal more with organized groups of farmers or suppliers,” she said.

Caberte cited Bohol province as an example of how this process would be implemented.

She said the Bohol provincial government drafted an ordinance mandating tourism stakeholders to source a certain percentage of their raw materials from local producers and SMEs.

“This is the same concept with the Tindahang Pinoy, which we hope to open soon here in Cebu. We’ll also work with a group of exporters producing gifts, toys and housewares to operate the shop, which would tap the tourist market of Cebu,” she said.

Caberte said the DOT-DTI agreement would be formally signed this month by Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo.

“We hope to have them both sign the memorandum because this will be the first in our country and will be done first here in our region and then replicated in other regions soon,” she said.

Caberte said Region 7 was chosen as the pilot area because of its vibrant tourism industry and active SME segment.