Melo Villareal
The Philippine Travel Mart 2015 Fun Tour Caravan Sale ng Bayan: Awesome Adventures, Excellent Deals!
The Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) and the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines (TPB) will soon be holding the 26th Philippine Travel Mart. This is the longest running travel trade exhibition in the Philippines, showcasing our local destinations and providing the best discounted tour packages for every kind of traveler. This year’s Philippine Travel Mart will be held in the four halls of the SMX Convention Center, from September 4-6, 2015.
In response to the first year of implementation of the ASEAN Integration towards the ASEAN Economic Community, this year’s Philippine Travel Mart 2015 will feature a whole host of new activities. These include Flavors of the Philippines section, where people can engage in food tasting and see cooking demos of regional cuisines; seamless intra-ASEAN travelling with the Philippines as a hub; the ASEAN +3 which will feature China, Japan and Korea; and the 3rd Philippine Tourism Forum , which will discuss “The Business of Tourism, ASEAN and Beyond”.
One must do there is a peek at the Sale ng Bayan, which features highly discounted rates of up to 70% discount on tour packages, accommodation, airfares and other tourism related services and products. There will also be Bucket List Tour Packages, which will feature less travelled or low impact tourism destinations. Among them are the exotic islands of Calaguas, located in Camarines Norte, as well as Sibuyan Island of Romblon. You’ll get some excellent travel deal packages there for 4 days and 3 nights to Batanes, Camiguin, Calamianes, Catanduanes, Masbate, and the Subic Beach of Sorsogon, with the price starts at Php 3,500.00 per person—that’s a pretty great discount!
Pack and Go Packages provide you the option to drive your own vehicle, use comfortable public coaches or RORO to access the destination. A road trip to North Luzon destinations like Ilocos, Tuguerao, Baler, Baguio, Sagada, Banaue, Bolinao or coasting along the scenic highway of the south to Quezon, Batangas, Cavite, Puerto Galera and Bicol are just some of the packages to be offered. A three day, two night – package starts at Php 2,300.00 per person. Fly and Go Packages take you to your destination of choice via flight. These packages are available with a travelling period until March 2016 at the Travel Mart. Additonally, a three day, two night-package to Boracay starts at Php 6,500.00 per person—all excellent deals for the price.
SkyJet Airlines will also participate in the upcoming Travel Mart and according to Jassel King – SkyJet’s Sales Manager, The airline will offer P98, P998 and P1998 one way tickets to their destinations.
During the Media Familiarization Tour in Northern Palawan last July 26-29, 2015.
Cesar Cruz, the President of PHILTOA said “It’s now the perfect time for hotels and tour operators to work hand in hand in providing quality tours and services, to leave good impressions on the local and international tourist and eventually convince them to promote our destinations by word of mouth.”
Hence, jaw-dropping airfares to your Philippine and regional (ASEAN) destinations will be one of the exciting offers during the Philippine Travel Mart 2015—this includes “on spot” dropping of fares of domestic and ASEAN carriers. Not to be missed are special accommodation packages from 136 hotel and resort exhibitors. Luxury resorts from Palawan, Puerto Galera, Albay, Bohol, Cebu, Siargao to the exclusive island resorts of Coron and El Nido are all set to offer promo packages so good that they’ll be difficult to refuse.
Emy Malate, the Secretary General of PHILTOA, remarked on the sudden surge of tourists in Palawan, particularly Coron. “Coron is now becoming one of the most popular destinations in the country. After visiting Coron, I believe Coron is now ready to accept any kind of tourist. With all different types of accommodation available today, it’s not hard for us to market Coron to any type of traveler.”
PHILTOA’S public relations officer, Clang Garcia, added, “The millennial market is also our target, because all of them are also interested in travelling, and with the help of social media.”
The Philippine Travel Mart 2015 will also have colorful exhibits of more than 200 exhibitors, all showcasing the best Philippine destinations from north to south, east to west of the country. A lot of effort on display design, marketing strategies and promos has been made to make sure that visitors to Bohol, Palawan, Ilocos Norte, Davao, the TRIPLE C destinations (Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Catanduanes), ALMASOR (Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon) SOCKSARGEN LGUs, Cagayan , Batangas, Camiguin, Negros Oriental booths would really get a bird’s eye view of each place’s deals and attractions. A visit to the Philippine Travel Mart is like a tour of the Philippines in one day!
On top of this, the Travel Mart is introducing “digital shopping ”, which uses the QR (quick response) reader. Individual exhibitors will have their assigned QR Code containing the exhibitor’s special offerings during the Philippine Travel Mart 2015. The exhibitors’ directory found at the lobby of the exhibition area will have an assigned QR code opposite the exhibitor’s company name. Visitors can scan the QR Code and do virtual window shopping before proceeding to the exhibition area. One can opt for credit card payment courtesy of Citibank.
The exhibition area will have free internet access courtesy of PLDT, the official broadband provider. “We are very thankful to our local media partners and bloggers for whole heartedly promoting our tourist destinations, this will definitely help to increase tourist arrivals and eventually create jobs too.” said PHILTOA President Cruz.
Finally, as support for the advocacy for sustainable preservation of our culture and heritage, events on stage in the Philippine Travel Mart 2015 will again feature competitions in categories such as Cultural Dance, Eco-chorale, Himig ng Kundiman, and Patimpalak ng Kasuotang Pilipino, to be participated in by not less than 250 students representing 39 different schools, colleges and universities. Winners of each event will be receiving trophies and cash prizes Tourism Infrastructure Enterprises Zone Authority (TIEZA).
To date, PHILTOA is the largest association of registered tour operators, with allied members from various tourism sectors such as airlines, hotels, resorts, tourist transportation, and more. Actively contributing to national economic growth, PHILTOA forges national and global affiliations and alliance with tourism-related associations and organizations to enhance and promote domestic and inbound Philippine tourism.
Sunset in Coron
PHILTOA President Cruz added, “The annual staging of the Philippine Travel Mart continues to promote the Philippines as a must-see destination—not only to our kababayans, but also to foreign tourists as we showcase the best of the Philippine tourist destinations.”
