The role of the local government units in the country is no doubt one of the most important roles for nation-building. It has, in fact, become the basic form of government that the people look to first before appealing to the national government.

It has been said that a stable and efficient local government unit is a sign of a productive and prosperous national government, and it could not be truer in the Philippine setting, as some local government units in the country are still striving to reach the uncertain road to progress.

Apart from farming and fishing, most local government units rely on tourism – a way to "sell" the destinations to local and foreign tourists alike to generate revenue.

In a way, the role of local government is to promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of their communities, and their involvement in tourism must be related to that.

LGUs have the mandate to craft their own tourism plan that sets out the priorities over the medium to longer term and how the local authority intends to contribute to community well-being.

To recall, the Philippine government saw the need to focus on tourism in order to capitalize on the lost opportunities that could have been captured from it. As early as 2007, the Department of Tourism identified the development of tourism real estates, establishment, and modernization of tourist accommodation facilities as priority activities.