This document provides guidance on evaluating tourist attractions and sites to designate official tourism areas and develop regional tourism plans. It outlines criteria for evaluating attractions, accessibility, activities and facilities. Targets for tourist arrivals, rooms, and jobs are set using growth rates and formulas relating rooms to employment. For a regional plan to be approved, it must be presented at local and regional public hearings.

1. Evaluation Tool for Tourism
Attraction and Sites

2. Tourist site are designated based on the evaluation of
tourist attractions. The evaluation should consider
accessibility and the politics in the area. Official
designation of tourist sites requires stakeholder
consultations, especially the local chief executive, such
as the barangay captain or mayor

3. The major criteria for evaluating attractions
are:
Tourist appeal
Accessibility
Activities and products
Facilities and services
DOT-JICA uses a scoring range of 4 (Excellen), 3 (good),
2 (fair), and 1 (poor).

4. Tourist Appeal Criteria
Tourist appeal has four criteria: (1) uniqueness, (2) historical
value, (3) socio-cultural value, (4) natural aesthetics, and (5)
visitor traffic.
Uniqueness
4: One of a kind
3: 2-3 similarities
2: 4-5 similarities
1: 6 or more similarities

5. Historical Value
4: 100 years or more
3: 50 – 99 years
2: 11 – 49 years
1: ten years or less
Socio-cultural Value
4: Very important
3: Important
2: Less important
1: No importance

6. Natural Aesthetic
4: All natural excellent
3: 1 – 2 enhanced structures
2: 3 – 4 enhanced structures
1: 5 or more enhanced structures
Presence of Visitor Traffic
4: 100, 000 or more per annum
3: 50, 000 – 99, 999 per annum
2: 1, 000 – 49, 999 per annum
1: No record

7. Accessibility
Distance
4: 0 – 10 km
3: 11 km – 20 km
2: 21 km – 30 km
1: 31 km and above
Travel Time
4: Within 1 hour
3: More than 1 hour – 2 hours
2: More than 2 hours – 3 hours
1: More than 3 hours

8. Type of Road
4: Paved (asphalt/concrete)
3: All weather (no potholes)
2: All weather (with potholes)
1: No road
Means of Transport
4: Anytime
3: Scheduled
2: By chance
1: None

9. Activities and Products
4: With 4 or more tourism activities or products
3: With 3 tourism activities or products
2: With 2 tourism activities or products
1: With 1 tourism activities or products
4: With 6 or more tourism facilities and services
3: With 4 – 5 or more tourism facilities and services
2: With 2 – 3 or more tourism facilities and services
1: With at least 1 tourism facility/service
Facilities and Services

10. The scores given the tourist attractions will be used for
selecting the attractions that will comprise a tourist site.
The higher scoring attractions will be prioritized
(priority attractions). (Note that the scoring system may
be modified by the stakeholders at the early stage of
the planning process.)
The priority attractions will be plotted on a preliminary
tourist-site distribution map.

11. Evaluation Criteria for
Designing Tourism
Development Areas

12. For the purpose of designating TDA, the facilities
located in the places will be evaluated on the
basis of:
1. Transportation
2. Tourism Service facilities
3. Accommodation Establishments (AE)
4. Infrastructure

13. The required data for this evaluation are:
1. Inventory of tourism attractions;
2. Number of rooms by type AE;
3. Development plan of LGU (Comprehensive Land Use Plan or
Provincial Planning Framework Plan); and
4. Maps showing location, network or service areas of
infrastructure – airport, ports, roads, water supply, sewage
system, power supply, and telecommunications (CLUP/PPFP).

14. Transportation
 Travel time from airport or provincial main seaport (in hours)
to TDA service center
4: Less than 1.0
3: 1.0 – 2.0
2: 2.0 – 4.0
1: more than 4.0

15.  Conditions and capacity of airport or main seaport
4: Well established and can expand easily for future
3: One (airport or seaport) is okay but the other
2: Both have limited capacity; no room for expansion
1: Only one port available; no room for expansion
 Transport services at airport or main seaport
4: Meet international standard and operation
3: Meet international standard but operated for domestic
2: Meet domestic service standard
1: Only for local Services

16.  Road conditions from gateway town to TDA service center
4: Good (paved and more than 7m-wide carriageway)
3: Paved and 2-lane highway but less than 7m-wide carriages
2: All weather but not concrete pave
1: Unpaved ad not all weather

17. Tourism Service Facility
 Guide signs and information board for tourists:
4: Well provided along the access road
3: Exits but not appropriate or do nor meet the standard
2: Only sign board; no guide sign
1: Not provided

18.  Visitor service facility at TDA/TDC service center or town
4: Information center with shops and toilet/rest space
3: Shops and toilet/rest space
2: Shops and toilet/rest space
1: None

19. AE Facilities within the TDA/TDC
 Number of rooms
4: 501 and above
3: 201 – 500
2: 51 – 200
1: Less than 50

20. Infrastructure at TDA Service Center/Town
 Water supply (Distance from supply main or water plant/water
resource)
4: Available at site
3: Less than 1 km
2: Less than 5 km
1: More than 5 km from water source (well or stream/river)

21.  Sanitation (sewerage system and solid waste collection)
4: Available for both sewerage and garbage collection
3: Independent sewerage system and garbage collection
2: Garbage dumping site provided by the public
1: No sanitation system provided at present
 Power [Distance from supply main or power plant(linear meters)]
4: Available at site
3: Less than 1 km
2: More than 1 km but can be connected
1: Only independent generator can provide

22.  Telecommunications
4: All means of telecommunication facilities available
3: Landline and mobile available
2: Mobile phone service but no landline
1: Special means (VHF, satellite phone)

23. Target Setting Methods

24. The local tourism plan indicates future
targets for:
Tourist arrival
Number of rooms required
Number of jobs generated

25. Target for visitor arrivals can be based on average
growth rate during the past several years (e.g., past five
years).
Targets for employment are based on the assumption
that general terms, three to five people are employed
directly and indirectly for every room of an
accommodation establishment.
It can be assumed that at least two direct
employments, out of the five, would be generated by
one AE room as the national average of the Philippines
(JICA – DOT)

26. So, if an additional 10,000 rooms are built in a tourist destination
area that will translate into 20,000 new direct jobs and 30,000
indirect jobs.
To calculate for the total number of rooms required, the
following formula may be applied:
TRR = (TRN)/AOR/365 (nights)
TRN = (TGN)/AGR
TGN = OV x ALOS

27. According to DOT-JICA, the final targets should be made in
consultation with stakeholders to get inputs regarding the
following:
 Does the industry feel the targets are attainable?
 Does the public investment plan for infrastructure meet future
increased demand and its attendant impacts?
 Are there sufficient human resources available in the LGU that
can be hired and trained as hotel staff?
 Is the capacity of the water and electricity utilities enough to
accommodate the increase demand?

28. Let us say that these are the following variables for
destination:
OV =100,000
ALOS=2.0 nights
AGR=1.5 persons
AOR=70%

29. Step 1. compute for total guests nights
(TGN)
TGN = OV x ALOS
TGN =100,000 GUEST (2 NIGHTS)
TGN = 200,000

30. STEP 2. Compute for total room nights
TRN
TRN = TGN/AGR
TRN=200,000 guest-nights/1.5 guests per room
TRN = 133,333.33

31. Step 3. compute for TRR
TRR = TRN/AOR/365
TRR=133,333.33 room nights/.70/365 nights
TRR=521.85(rounded to 522)

32. How Plan is Adopted
How does a plan get to be approved? In the case of a
regional tourism plan covering the Island of Samar, the
plan had to be presented in public hearings at the LGU
level and at the regional development council before
they finally given approval for implementation.