Melo Villareal
Cebu City having the second busiest international airport in the Philippines will be having it’s first International Travel Festival (ITF) on July 11 to 13 at the Ayala Center Cebu. The Cebu International Travel Festival 2014 aims to provide a venue for Cebu’s travel market to score travel deals in an accessible venue, organizers said.
Cebu International Travel Festival 2014
About Cebu City
- Cebu is the “Queen City of the South” on Cebu Island in the Philippines and is one of the most popular destinations in all of the Philippines for foreign visitors with the busiest sea port in the Philippines and the second largest Air hub.
- Cebu is 3rd best island in Asia. Travel+Leisure magazine 2010 poll: Cebu improves ranking
- Cebu has been ranked the third best island in Asia by New York based travel magazine Travel + Leisure.
- AirAsia – Asia’s largest Low cost carrier selected Cebu as their second hub in the Philippines
According to Stephanie Villahermosa, project co-director and president of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas) Cebu Chapter, they are targeting 120 exhibitors from different sectors of tourism and are banking on the mall’s 250,000 estimated weekend shoppers to boost business.
Cebu International Travel Festival 2014
The three-day tourism related event gives stakeholders a venue to promote tourism products, forge links and widen their range of contacts to serve the industry better.
Villahermosa said online travel bookings are cutting a big share of the market of travel agencies and the fair is meant to challenge online service providers. But she said she still believes traditional travel agencies can remain strong with group departure sales and advanced booking discounts.
Villahermosa also welcomes the move of the Department of Tourism to require online travel services to be accredited, even those operating in foreign countries, as long as they are offering travel services to the Philippines.
The travel festival is a join project of Naitas Cebu, MyEventology and Ayala Center Cebu. Visit their official Facebook Page for more details. (Source PIA)
