The Department of Tourism (DoT), Philippines recently conducted the ‘Visit the Philippines Year Again (VPA) 2016’ roadshow for its travel trade partners in Pune and Ahmedabad. The 25-member delegation, comprising hoteliers, resorts, spas, and representatives of tour attractions, interacted with over 200 key travel and tour operators, MICE providers, and up-market leisure operators. Raymond Glen A Agustin, chief tourism operation officer, market development group – Russia, India and the Middle East, DoT Philippines, led the delegation. The roadshows included interactive B2B sessions, education programmes and workshops to aid trade members in planning itineraries and responding to customer queries in these cities. As a part of its marketing development strategy, the DoT, Philippines has recently branded 100 radio cabs in Pune and Ahmedabad.
Speaking at the event, Raymond Glen A Agustin affirmed that India is an important source market for the Philippines with 74, 824 Indians visiting the destination last year, which marked 22.36 per cent year-on-year increase. Overall, the Philippines expects to welcome 100,000 Indian tourists by 2017.
“In order to strengthen co-operation between DoT and our important business partners in the Indian travel industry, several promotional activities such as roadshows, taxi branding, participation in fairs and exhibitions and FAM trips have been carried out and further activities will be organised during this year, ” added Glen.
Over the last couple of years, DoT Philippines has been promoting the destination also for weddings, luxury, MICE and small group travel, apart from holidays. Destinations like Manila, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan and Davao have been aggressively promoted in recent years. With the AJACSS UK visa relaxation at all international airports, the Philippines aims to attract more Indians in 2016.
