Close to 200 erring accommodation establishments flagged for violations

The ongoing clampdown against erring accommodation establishments (AEs) in the city has so far yielded a total of 191 tourism establishments which were flagged for violation of the requirements on business permit, occupancy tax and tourist arrival data.

Of the total, 182 were condominiums, transient houses and apartments.  A total of 190 failed to submit their tourist statistics data, 155 did not pay their hotel room occupancy taxes and 130 had no business permits.

This will be a continuing campaign, according to Allan Abayao, chief of the Permits and Licensing Division which is spearheading the operations along with the teams from the City Treasury Office (CTO) and the City Tourism and Special Events Division.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong earlier ordered the crackdown on AEs that do not have business permits, do not pay their occupancy tax and do not submit tourist arrival data after receiving reports on the proliferation of recalcitrant AEs.

He said the unchecked operation of unpermitted AEs is unfair to the legitimate ones and is setting a bad example to others.

The non-payment of the taxes is detrimental to the city government while the non-disclosure of tourist statistics hampers the city’s data gathering and developmental programs for the sector. – Aileen P. Refuerzo