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DOT to Pinoys: Travel more, say 'It's more fun in the Philippines'
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Saying the best promoters of the Philippines as a tourist destination are Filipinos themselves, tourism officials and industry players on Tuesday urged Pinoys to travel more to both local and foreign destinations.
Tourism Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon said that if the Filipinos travel more around the country and abroad, then they will be in a better position to promote the Philippines to others.
"They can really say it's more fun in the Philippines," he told reporters at a press conference for the 19th Travel Tour Expo, a one-stop travel fair scheduled on Feb. 17-19 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
The expo will also serve as one of the launching pads for the Department of Tourism's new campaign slogan, "It's more fun in the Philippines" according to Philippine Travel Agencies Association President and Co-chairperson Aileen Clemente.
Bengzon also expressed optimism about their targeted 10 million visitors to the country by the end of the term of President Benigno Aquino III.
"We're confident that we can reach 10 million," said Bengzon, adding that the official figures for 2011, which were recently released, revealed that about 3.9 million tourists visited the country last year.
"To reach 10 million by 2016, we have to improve by 1.2 to 1.5 million per year," said Bengzon. He said the DOT is working on improving air access, developing connectivity, and marketing and promotions.
"First it's very important to improve air access to the Philippines. It's very important for us to start talking with airlines to increase the number of flights and capacities. It's also very important to develop the connectivity so once they arrive at the main gateways like Manila and Cebu, it's important for them to connect immediately to their end destination. Lastly, in the area of manpower. We have to be able to develop frontliners that are better than the rest of what you see in the region," said Bengzon.
Promoting local destinations
At the 19th Travel Tour Expo, local destinations will be put on the spotlight to entice more people to travel to the provinces. While the travel fair is themed "One Stop Shop to the World," the PTAA hopes that Filipinos will favor the local destinations and avail of specially priced air fares, hotel stays, and tour packages.
"We have allotted a bigger area for our domestic destinations, I think the locals now have begun to realize that we have beautiful spots here in the Philippines. The domestic carriers are really offering very good promo rates not forgetting also the tour operators who are coming up with very good packages to visit the Philippines so we can have more fun," said PTAA Yield Chairperson Maucie Cuna.
Last year's fair featured discounted rates to almost anywhere in the world, as well as big discounts on local fares. One popular offer was the one-way ticket promo to Boracay at P1,610. Listed on online travel guide TripAdvisor as the best beach in Asia, Boracay has always been a favorite vacation spot. 
After its Puerto Princesa Underground River was named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, Palawan is also looking forward to an increase in tourists.
"The members that we have in Puerto Princesa, the tour operators that we have there, are paving its way in terms of creating good and low-priced packages for the underground river together with Honda Bay and the city tour of Puerto Princesa. The numerous hotels and resorts in the area are gearing toward good occupancy because of the media hype that has happened for the destination. We are looking at a very good increase, very substantial. If I may say, we are very bullish with Puerto Princesa for this 2012," said PTAA Chairman John Paul Cabalza.
Travel to foreign destinations
The expo also aims to entice Filipinos to travel abroad.
"The beauty of the Travel Tour Expo is that all the travel agencies that will be participating will be promoting their own favored destinations. So it will be good for the prospective travelers that they will have plenty of choices while at the Travel Tour Expo. We can assure you that the traveling public will have plenty of choices regardless of whether its a local destination, which we would like many Filipinos to favor, but there will also be plenty of international destinations that will be on sale," said former PTAA President and current trustee Marciano Ragaza.
Clemente also said that one unique feature of this year's travel fair is the participation of embassies. She mentioned Japan in particular, which is one of the many countries that travelers can book a flight to during the fair.
"This is our way of helping the international relations as we help them with their tourism as well. We are looking forward to tourism both ways, from here to Japan and from Japan to the Philippines," said Clemente, adding that apart from the main gateways like Osaka and Nagoya, there are other great places in Japan, like Hokkaido.
She also said that they are intensifying their promotion for India, which was a newly launched route by Philippine Airlines last year.
477 booths, huge discounts
The PTAA promises an even bigger event this year, with 477 booths where exhibitors will offer huge discounts on travel packages, products and services.
Apart from travel deals, visitors can look forward to raffle prizes, games and hourly presentations from exhibitors throughout the three-day fair. As with last year's event, all four halls of the SMX Convention Center will be used for the 2012 edition, to accommodate 237 tourism-related companies from the Philippines, Asia, the Middle East, North and South America, Africa, South Africa, Australia and Europe.
"This is basically a one stop shop wherein we will be selling both domestic and international packages,"said Cabalza.
"We have a range of airlines that are participating, from the low-cost carriers all the way to the full service carriers. They're all there, they're going to be giving the best value for your money," said Clemente.
Prospective travelers can expect huge discounts that will only be available at the fair, which will be held from February 17 to 19 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. --KG, GMA News
Tourism Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon said that if the Filipinos travel more around the country and abroad, then they will be in a better position to promote the Philippines to others.
"They can really say it's more fun in the Philippines," he told reporters at a press conference for the 19th Travel Tour Expo, a one-stop travel fair scheduled on Feb. 17-19 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
The expo will also serve as one of the launching pads for the Department of Tourism's new campaign slogan, "It's more fun in the Philippines" according to Philippine Travel Agencies Association President and Co-chairperson Aileen Clemente.
Bengzon also expressed optimism about their targeted 10 million visitors to the country by the end of the term of President Benigno Aquino III.
"We're confident that we can reach 10 million," said Bengzon, adding that the official figures for 2011, which were recently released, revealed that about 3.9 million tourists visited the country last year.
"To reach 10 million by 2016, we have to improve by 1.2 to 1.5 million per year," said Bengzon. He said the DOT is working on improving air access, developing connectivity, and marketing and promotions.
"First it's very important to improve air access to the Philippines. It's very important for us to start talking with airlines to increase the number of flights and capacities. It's also very important to develop the connectivity so once they arrive at the main gateways like Manila and Cebu, it's important for them to connect immediately to their end destination. Lastly, in the area of manpower. We have to be able to develop frontliners that are better than the rest of what you see in the region," said Bengzon.
Promoting local destinations
At the 19th Travel Tour Expo, local destinations will be put on the spotlight to entice more people to travel to the provinces. While the travel fair is themed "One Stop Shop to the World," the PTAA hopes that Filipinos will favor the local destinations and avail of specially priced air fares, hotel stays, and tour packages.
"We have allotted a bigger area for our domestic destinations, I think the locals now have begun to realize that we have beautiful spots here in the Philippines. The domestic carriers are really offering very good promo rates not forgetting also the tour operators who are coming up with very good packages to visit the Philippines so we can have more fun," said PTAA Yield Chairperson Maucie Cuna.
Last year's fair featured discounted rates to almost anywhere in the world, as well as big discounts on local fares. One popular offer was the one-way ticket promo to Boracay at P1,610. Listed on online travel guide TripAdvisor as the best beach in Asia, Boracay has always been a favorite vacation spot.
"The members that we have in Puerto Princesa, the tour operators that we have there, are paving its way in terms of creating good and low-priced packages for the underground river together with Honda Bay and the city tour of Puerto Princesa. The numerous hotels and resorts in the area are gearing toward good occupancy because of the media hype that has happened for the destination. We are looking at a very good increase, very substantial. If I may say, we are very bullish with Puerto Princesa for this 2012," said PTAA Chairman John Paul Cabalza.
Travel to foreign destinations
The expo also aims to entice Filipinos to travel abroad.
"The beauty of the Travel Tour Expo is that all the travel agencies that will be participating will be promoting their own favored destinations. So it will be good for the prospective travelers that they will have plenty of choices while at the Travel Tour Expo. We can assure you that the traveling public will have plenty of choices regardless of whether its a local destination, which we would like many Filipinos to favor, but there will also be plenty of international destinations that will be on sale," said former PTAA President and current trustee Marciano Ragaza.
Clemente also said that one unique feature of this year's travel fair is the participation of embassies. She mentioned Japan in particular, which is one of the many countries that travelers can book a flight to during the fair.
"This is our way of helping the international relations as we help them with their tourism as well. We are looking forward to tourism both ways, from here to Japan and from Japan to the Philippines," said Clemente, adding that apart from the main gateways like Osaka and Nagoya, there are other great places in Japan, like Hokkaido.
She also said that they are intensifying their promotion for India, which was a newly launched route by Philippine Airlines last year.
477 booths, huge discounts
The PTAA promises an even bigger event this year, with 477 booths where exhibitors will offer huge discounts on travel packages, products and services.
Apart from travel deals, visitors can look forward to raffle prizes, games and hourly presentations from exhibitors throughout the three-day fair. As with last year's event, all four halls of the SMX Convention Center will be used for the 2012 edition, to accommodate 237 tourism-related companies from the Philippines, Asia, the Middle East, North and South America, Africa, South Africa, Australia and Europe.
"This is basically a one stop shop wherein we will be selling both domestic and international packages,"said Cabalza.
"We have a range of airlines that are participating, from the low-cost carriers all the way to the full service carriers. They're all there, they're going to be giving the best value for your money," said Clemente.
Prospective travelers can expect huge discounts that will only be available at the fair, which will be held from February 17 to 19 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. --KG, GMA News
