The Philippine Travel Mart, one of the country’s influential and largest travel expositions, will be held September this year and is expected to open significant markdowns on travel packages to further jumpstart tourism activities in the country.
Scheduled on September 26 to October 2, 2022 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, exhibitors during the event are expected to surpass their counterpart number in last year’s expo.
Philippine Tour Operators Association Inc. (PHILTOA) president Fe Abling-Yu said she is optimistic about this prospect despite the lingering but now tapering off pandemic. “By September, I hope we’re already fully opened. You see, this is a one-stop-shop where we invite regional offices,” she noted.
Abling-Yu said the discounts offered by hotels, resorts and other stakeholders in this kind of venue are really the best rates. This year, PHILTOA looks at bringing in national tourism organizations from the Philippines’ top source markets like Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea.
“If we can bring in Korea, Japan, and other countries, that will ensure and even larger audience,” she added, expressing her hope that recent developments in the country’s tourism industry would be sustained. Starting February 10, the Philippines will accept international tourists from 157 visa-free countries as long as they are fully vaccinated.
“We are closely cooperating with the Tourism Congress of the Philippines so I hope this would be continuous. This is what we’re really waiting for. We started with land travel when we reopened, so this entry of foreign tourists would really be a big contribution to our economy in terms of receipts,” she added.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Department of Tourism continued to develop domestic tourism circuits and allocated about P91 million for product development efforts. The Philippines now offers promising product niches, including medical and wellness, pilgrimage, and culture tourism, aside from dive tourism, food and gastronomy, nature-based travel.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said she anticipates “high interest” in the country’s domestic cruise tourism products.
“The DOT is facilitating the domestic deployment of Genting Cruise Lines’ Superstar Aquarius, an international cruise vessel that proposes to run domestic itineraries in the Philippines, targeting Filipino domestic cruise passengers,” she revealed.