The Department of Tourism, Philippines (DOT) in collaboration with the Philippines Tourism Marketing Office in India recently held a series of roadshows in tier II cities, namely- Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The roadshows gave DOT an opportunity to introduce its travel partners to agents in the city and showcase the country’s new attractions and services offered as part of the ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ campaign. It aimed at penetrating the outbound tourist market in these cities and share first hand accounts of Philippines’ vast portfolio of tourism products.
Led by Verna C. Buensuceso, Director, Market Development Group, Russia, India and the Middle East, DOT and Raymund Glen Agustin, Head, Team India, DOT; the delegation including Luisa A. Llave, DOT gave an overview of the booming tourism industry in the Philippines. The events brought together leading travel and tour operators from the Philippines which included Ark Travel Express Inc., Annset Holiday Inc., Manila Hotel, Select Travel Services and Shroff Travel Care International among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Buensuceso said, “The Philippines recorded 46,395 visitor arrivals from India during the period January to December 2012. It is a direct result of DOT’s marketing and promotional efforts for the Indian market. In 2013, we are looking at a 50 per cent growth over last year’s arrival figures and we are on the right track towards capturing a bigger market share of outbound tourists from key tier II tourist markets to meet our projected targets.”
The delegates from the Philippines interacted with local travel partners and buyers in B2B sessions and shared presentations with the attendees while shedding light on the It’s More Fun in the Philippines campaign. The campaign received an overwhelming response in both international as well as its domestic markets. DOT celebrated the first anniversary of its success in January 2013. The success of the campaign as well as the recently announced visa-free scheme for Indian travellers with valid AJACSS UK visa, has helped boost the number of Indian arrivals to the Philippines.
Agustin said, “These cities are major focus in our tourism promotional calendar for this year. We will highlight our premier destinations and work with our local travel partners in these cities to attract more tourists to the Philippines this year.”
