Republic of the pines General Santos City OFFICE OF THE SANGGUNIA NG PANLUNGSOD

•

CHAMPIONS

EXCERPT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE 45 TH REGULAR SESSION OF THE 18TH SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD, CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS, HELD AT THE

SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD SESSION HALL ON TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017.

PRESENT:

Hon. Elizabeth B. Bagonoc Hon. Rosalita T. Nunez Hon. Jose Orlando R. Acharon Hon. Jose Edmar J. Yumang Hon. Vandyke B. Congson Hon. Lourdes F. Casabuena Hon. Ramon R. Melliza

ABSENT:

Hon. Shirlyn L. Barias-Nograles Hon. Alberto D. Pacquiao Hon. Dominador S. Lagare, Jr. Hon. Shandee Theresa 0. Llido-Pestano Hon. Franklin M. Gacal, Jr. Hon. Brix T. Tan

Acting Acting City Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer City Councilor City Councilor City Councilor City Councilor City Councilor City Councilor

City Vice Mayor (Acting City Mayor) City Councilor City Councilor City Councilor City Councilor City Councilor

WHEREAS, in the world today, MICE industry development is a key driver of economic growth, regional harmony and intellectual development. MICE tourism can bring benefits in terms of profits and short term jobs and thereby adding competitive advantage to destinations, diversifying source markets and engaging both hosts and guests in global, regional and local issues;

WHEREAS, many cities in the world today are constantly developing strategies to develop their potentials as MICE industry locations and General Santos City is moving towards that trend;

WHEREAS, globalization is playing a leading role in the advancement and development of MICE industry in Asia. Networks are formed among the members of regional groups of nations, therefore, infrastructure which facilitates meetings between the countries is needed. Furthermore, the World Tourism Organization acknowledges that developments in this industry can be an essential factor of economic growth and can strengthen local and international trades and ties;

WHEREAS, MICE event locations are normally bid on by specialized conventions in particular countries and cities and established for the purpose of bidding on MICE activities. This process on marketing and bidding is normally conducted well in advance of the event, often several years. Thus, MICE tourism is known for its extensive and long term planning;

WHEREAS, the City Government of General Santos recognizes the potential of the city as MICE industry location in the Philippines and supports the continuing private and public sectors' collaboration to achieve the goal.

a ORDINANCE NO. 19, SERIES OF 2017

age 1

www.spgensantos.ph 083.552.9692

• • NOW THEREFORE, on the motion of City Councilor, Ramon R. Melliza, duly

seconded by City Councilors Jose Orlando R. Acharon and Lourdes F. Casabuena, be it;

RESOLVED, as it is hereby resolved, to enact the following Ordinance:

ORDINANCE NO. 19 Series of 2017

AN ORDINANCE PROMOTING AND STRENGTHENING THE CITY OF GENERAL SANTOS AS A CHOICE DESTINATION FOR REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS, INCENTIVES, CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONS (MICE), PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Hon. Ramon R. Melliza, Hon. Brix T. Tan, Hon. Rosalita T. Nunez, Hon. Shandee Theresa 0. Llido-Pestario, Hon. Jose Orlando R. Acharon, and

Hon. Elizabeth B. Bagonoc Authors and Sponsors Hon. Jose Edmar J. Yumang — Co-Author

Be it enacted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod of General Santos City that:

Section 1. Short Title. - This ordinance shall be known as "THE MICE ORDINANCE OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY".

Section 2. Declaration of Policies. - The City of General Santos recognizes the value of the following principles and policies:

a. Strong cooperation between the government and the private sector;

b. Excellent quality of public sector service in promoting opportunities to attract investments. Towards this end, it continues to develop a healthy local ecosystem for business and job generation;

c. Excellent private sector and quality human resource to sustain business and investments;

d. Development and implementation of strategies to increase direct and indirect improvement of infrastructure, communication, and security systems; and

e. Development and implementation of strategies for de-seasonalization of tourism.

Section 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this ordinance, the following terms are hereby defined:

a. MICE - is an acronym for "meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions" (MICE, with the "C" sometimes referring to conventions / congress) and "E" sometimes referring to events. It is a type of tourism in which large groups, usually planned well in advance, are brought together for a particular purpose. This term encompasses "meetings industry" and "events industry". MICE tourism usually includes a well-planned agenda centered on a theme or topic such as on trade and profession and the like. Such tourism is often a specialized area with its own exhibition, as defined by the International Congress and Convention Association;

rr!Page 2 ORDINANCE NO. 19, SERIES OF 2017

• • b. Meeting — is a general term indicating the coming together of a number of

people in one place to confer or to carry out a particular activity. Its frequency can be on ad hoc basis according to a set pattern, as for instance annual general meetings, and the like as defined by the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO) book called "Meetings Industry Terminology" which serves as the dictionary for the meetings industry;

c. Incentive — is a meeting event as part of the program which is offered to its participants to reward a previous performance as define by IAPCO. Also, it is a business-related travel designed to provide motivation or incentives to help businesspeople become more successful;

d. Conference — refers to participatory meeting designed for discussion, fact-finding, problem solving and consultation. As compared with a congress, a conference is normally smaller in scale and more select in character-features which tend to facilitate the exchange of information. The term "conference" carries no connotation as to frequency. Though not inherently limited in time, conferences are usually of limited duration with specific objectives;

e. Convention — refers to general assemblies, academic conferences hosted by international and academic organizations/associations;

f. Exhibition — refers to an event at which products and services are displayed as defined by IAPCO;

g. Events — refer to cultural and sporting events, as well as trade shows and exhibitions;

a) Sport Event — a specific travel outside of the usual environment for either passive or active involvement in competitive sport where sport is the prime motivational reason for travel and the touristic or leisure element may act to reinforce the overall experience.

b) Cultural Event — refers to the search for and participation in new and deep cultural experiences, whether aesthetic, intellectual, emotional, or psychological.

h. Meetings Industry — refers to the term used sometimes instead of using the label "MICE Market". "Meetings Industry" practically encompasses all the above.

Section 4. Creation of Gensan MICE Promotions Board. - There is hereby created a special body to be known as GENSAN MICE PROMOTIONS BOARD (GMPB) to be convened by the City Mayor to develop, plan, recommend and help implement strategies and mechanisms to effectively position the City of General Santos as a destination or location for regional, national and international meetings, incentives, conferences, conventions, events and exhibitions (referred as MICE hereinafter, for brevity).

A. The GMPB shall be composed of the following:

a. City Mayor who may personally attend the board meeting of the board or may be represented by alternate to represent him during the board meeting;

b. City Tourism Officer;

ORDINANCE NO. 19, SERIES OF 2017 .._,,/Page 3

• • c. Chairperson of General Santos City Tourism Counci

d. Chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Tourism, Culture and the Arts;

e. Chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry;

f. Local Representative from the Department of Trade and Industry; g. Local Representative from the Department of Tourism; and

h. One representative from each of the private sectors such as the food producers, hotels and restaurants, travels and tours, convention facilities, souvenir providers and health and leisure destinations.

The GMPB shall decide by itself regarding its regular meetings. However, the City Mayor may call it to a special meeting as he/she deems it necessary.

The members of the GMPB who are not officials and/or employees of the local government of General Santos shall be entitled to an honorarium in the amount of Two Thousand Pesos (P2, 000.00) per attendance of meeting either personally or by his/her representative.

The City Tourism Office shall serve as secretariat to assist the GMPB and supervise the strategies and mechanism under this ordinance in coordination with appropriate offices of the city government. It shall also help the GMPB to engage in the active promotion and implementation of strategies and support for the MICE industry in General Santos City and handle inquiries related thereto.

The City Tourism Office shall take charge in the creation and update of the record of all tourist spots in General Santos City and inventory of all tourism facilities.

Section 5. Development of Incentives to Encourage Entry of MICE. - The GMPB shall give fiscal and non-fiscal incentives based on existing laws and ordinances of the city. It may organize groups to engage in the active promotion and implementation of strategies and support for the MICE industry in General Santos City.

Section 6. Development of Programs to Develop Globally-Ready MICE Professionals. - The city government shall encourage local academic institutions to develop courses, trainings and competencies to cultivate and develop quality professionals necessary to serve the requirements of the MICE industry in General Santos City. Towards this end, the city shall conduct regular programs and activities to develop customer-centered services, certifications and accreditations of professional MICE workers, benchmarking or local MICE industry with global standards, and professionalizing the human resources linked to business tourism.

The city government shall also encourage schools in General Santos City to have on-the-job training programs that will expose their students to actual conventions, meetings and conferences.

The city government shall encourage the hotels and restaurants in General Santos City to develop their employees to be globally prepared by adopting programs to make them excellently efficient in customer service.

ORDINANCE NO. 19, SERIES OF 2017

Page 4

• • The city government shall adopt and develop programs in making its own officials,

employees and workers to the extent that they treat every client a special customer.

The city government shall encourage the development of classical performing arts such as, but not limited to orchestras, bands, choirs, dancing and the like. In addition to these cultural programs, the city government shall also promote activities that will lead to the discovery of talents among the youth in field of individual singing, painting, writing and scientific studies. The products of these programs will eventually support MICE industry institutionalization in General Santos City. Any discovered talents shall be discovered by the city government by way of more trainings and exposures and a reasonable honorarium as the Local Finance Board will determine.

The city government shall endeavor to put-up an edifice that will showcase the achievements of the residents of the city who have become regional, national or international/world champions and winners in the field of sports and other fields. Such edifice will house the replicas of the symbols of awards of the achievers and shall be open as one of the options of tourists and visitors to view and benchmark.

Section 7. Development of Baseline Data to Serve as Basis for MICE Programs. -The GMPB shall cause the development of reasonable system to collate and analyze data related to MICE such as number of available rooms, types and price ranges, available support facilities such as restaurants, airlines, souvenir shops, health and wellness spas, tourist attractions and the like, number of meetings, and participants per year as experiences in at least ten (10) years, types of meetings by geographical area of origin of registered participants, seasonality, average number of participants, average duration of their meetings/conferences, conventions and their average duration of stay in the city, survey of level satisfaction of registered participants and of accompanying persons and the impact of meetings and conventions on employment and its comparison with the same impact on tourism in general.

The GMPB shale devise a tourism strategy to capture tourist data including available tourist accommodation facilities, such as, but not limited to hotels, and shall also include "bed and breakfast" establishments, which offer overnight accommodations and breakfast but usually do not offer other meals.

The GMPB shall develop strategies for quality home stay program and artist residency.

The GMPB shall also conduct market research for products that are attractive or appealing to tourists with the help of showroom operators and other product manufacturers / producers.

Section 8. Development of Mechanisms to Encourage Inbound Tourism. - The GMPB shall assist the City of General Santos in developing strategies to attract inbound tourism by defining strategies for the market to increase the city's level of competitiveness, identify and recommend required infrastructure, generate a methodology for the evaluation of possible events to be hosted, participate in fairs and congresses, supports bids, and in parallel develop other products and forge strategic alliances with various actors of the industry like airlines, shipping lines, and service vehicle companies.

o ORDINANCE NO. 19, SERIES OF 2017

Page 5

• • In order for General Santos City to become globally-ready for international

assemblies, global standards must be encouraged in hotels and other tourist destinations such as standard size of rooms and services, tourist buses, installation of CCTVs and deployment of tourism police. To encourage the private sector, incentives may be provided through the Local Investment Board.

Section 9. Encouragement for Trade Missions. - The city government shall encourage the private sector to develop trade missions to other countries. Towards this end, the City Tourism Office shall assist in the organization of international trips of government officials and business people for the purposes of exploring international business opportunities.

There shall be established Call Center Hotline for General Santos City to effectively provide callers with accurate and timely information and refer callers to services and resources for further help.

The City Government shall put-up a standard information desk to be designated in all major shopping centers of General Santos City. For this purpose, Memoranda of Agreement shall be entered into by the City Government with the said major shopping centers.

The City Government shall establish more sisterhood relationships with other cities in the Philippines as well as places in other countries.

The City Government shall establish linkages and connectivity with the neighboring local government units for cooperation in the development of tourism in the region where General Santos City belongs. This is to facilitate ready destinations for tours outside General Santos City as the organizers of events might request in addition to the tours within the city.

Section 10. Production of Promotions Collaterals. - The City Tourism Office, in consultation with the Gensan MICE Promotions Board, shall design, recommend and cause the production of various promotion collaterals such as brochures, social media materials, magazines, audio-visual presentations, souvenirs and the like to promote General Santos City as location for MICE.

Section 11. Incentives for Organizers. - The city government shall devise means to assist convention organizers by giving them incentives which must be based on the number of delegates and on the availability of the needed materials and assistance which a. shall be approved by the City Tourism Office as follows:

Number of Delegates per Registration Records

Materials if available

100-500 Leis, welcome streamers, sue of city facilities, Gensan Tourist Maps, Tourism Officers support, tourist police, discounted tours

500-1,000 Leis, welcome streamers, sue of city facilities, Gensan Tourist Maps, Tourism Officers support, tourist police, one (1) Gensan cultural show or local band performance, special tokens for VIPs, discounted tours, Free Tour for VIPs, Welcome Banners

ORDINANCE NO. 19, SERIES OF 2017 zet_ Page 6

B. Vice

NOC, MDMG, DPA and Presiding Officer

ELIZAB Acting Ci

ATTESTED

More than 1, 000 Leis, welcome streamers, sue of city facilities, Gensan Tourist Maps, Tourism Officers support, tourist police, one (1) Gensan cultural show or local band performance, special tokens for VIPs, discounted tours, Free Tour for VIPs, Welcome Dancers

If there are at least One Thousand (1,000) delegates to the convention and it will last for at least two days, the city government shall sponsor one (1) dinner thru the City Mayor's Office and the night be termed as Mayor's Night. This is in addition to the incentives named above.

Section 12. Budgetary Requirement. - The city government shall allocate an annual budget of at least Five Million Pesos (P5,000,000.00) for the implementation of this ordinance.

Section 13. Suppletory Effect of Related Ordinances. - All related existing General Santos City's ordinances not otherwise in conflict with this ordinance shall have suppletory effect to this legislation.

Section 14. Separability Clause. - Should any portion of this ordinance be declared void by competent court, the remainder not so affected shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Section 15. Effectivity. - This Ordinance shall take effect on the day after thirty (30) days following its publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the City.

Enacted by the 18 th Sangguniang Panlungsod, City of General Santos on its 45 th Regular Session held on June 27, 2017.

CERTIFIED CORRECT:

ATTY. ROSENDO A. ROQUE Secretary to the Sanggunian

7k1

Approved by His Honor, the City Mayor on 7.4 0-1 2.v , 2017.

RONNEL C. RIVERA% City Mayor

ORDINANCE NO. 19, SERIES OF 2017 Page 7