Training
Trained the Department’s Accreditation Team, 20 volunteer Hotel Experts as independent auditors, and 79 Tourism Officers across 17 regions. Training included live trial assessments and an Accessibility Standards module.
Case study · Government & hospitality
How the Philippines Department of Tourism built its first 5-star hotel accreditation system
satisFIND designed and led the pilot rollout of a consistent accommodation accreditation process across the country.
The challenge
In 2011, the Philippines ranked 94th of 139 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index. Following the Tourism Act of 2009, the Department of Tourism needed a national accommodation standards accreditation system, without an existing framework to deliver it at scale.
The mission
satisFIND was awarded the consultancy to design, lead, and manage the pilot implementation of the country’s first 5-star accreditation system for hotels, resorts, and apartment hotels.
What we did
Process design
Built an unbiased, two-person assessment model pairing a Tourism Officer with an independent Hotel Expert auditor across 177 accommodation standards, with transparent scoring and deficiency reporting.
Project management
Coordinated 545 property assessments across 17 regions in 10 weeks, including assessment kits and auditor travel logistics.
Documentation & knowledge transfer
Delivered a complete procedures manual so the Department could operate the system independently after the pilot.
The result
The Department continued using the star-rating procedures established during the rollout. The Philippines later reached 75th place in the World Economic Forum’s 2019 travel competitiveness ranking. That national change reflects many factors beyond this accreditation project.
“The Philippine Department of Tourism was very pleased to have worked with satisFIND in the rollout of the country's first star rating system for hotels, resort and apartment hotels from 2013–2015. SatisFIND handled this project with utmost professionalism, efficiency and delivered thorough results. The star rating system is still being implemented in the Philippines to date using the procedures established when it was rolled out.”Rica Bueno, Assistant Secretary, Department of Tourism, Philippines
Ranking context: World Economic Forum, 2019.