The Philippines Department of Tourism and the Department of Foreign Affairs will host the Third Ambassadors/Consuls General and Tourism Attaches Tour (ACGTAT) from July 14-22, 2007.  A promotional program that highlights the Philippines as a wholesome, safe and attractive holiday destination, it encourages North Americans, their families and friends to visit and experience its culture and Filipino hospitality.

Five to six hundred participants are expected this year and they will be introduced to the country’s leading tourist destinations,  to emerging products and activities like health and wellness, medical tourism and entertainment.  The participants will be familiarized in the various potential areas in the Philippines for investments, livelihood, business, and retirement.  They will be encouraged to participate in social projects and engage in special tours and in new travel programs, to heighten their interest in the future organizing and bringing-in of groups to the country for reunions, conferences and missions.  Ultimately, the program seeks to convince and convert its participants from mere tourists to tourism advocates who will speak positively about the Philippines.

Sponsored by Serendra(Ayala), Megaworld, Tiendesitas, and the SM Investment Corporation, the two-week tour is designed to give the participants a general feel of Philippine culture in the capital Metro Manila and an out-of-town vacation experience in the country’s top tourist destinations.

The basic tour covers programs and activities in Metro Manila. It will be a 4-day and 3-night package that will include a city tour, an audience with the Philippine President, a tour of Malacanang Palace, a welcome dinner with a special fashion show, wreath laying ceremony at the Rizal monument and visit to a retirement model house and condominium, and to establishments known for health and wellness and medical tourism.  Also included is a choice of any of the following day tours of nearby tourist destinations like Corregidor in Bataan, Villa Escudero in Quezon and the Rizal Home in Calamba, Laguna, the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite, or the Taal/Tagaytay/Batangas eco-cultural tour.

After completing the basic tour, the participants will have the option to choose to go to a tourist destination that suits their interests. The destination choices include Aklan/Boracay  (eco-tourism, beach, diving, water sports), Bohol/Dumaguete (beach, chocolate hills, tarsier, diving, mountain trekking), Cebu/Camiguin/Cagayan de Oro (eco-tourism, beach, mountain climbing, water sports), Clark/Subic/Olongapo (eco-tourism, diving, mountain trekking), Club Noah/Isabelle (diving), or they can opt to stay in Metro Manila and enjoy a golf holiday in the different world class golf courses in the city and its environs.

This year’s edition of the ACGTAT is expected to surpass the success of the two previous tours in terms of enhancing the image of the Philippines as a top-notch tourist destination and in promoting the country to second and third generation Filipino-North Americans not just as the homeland of their parents, but as their tropical paradise where they always feel at home as well.

As an added bonus, the participants of the ACGTAT will have a chance to join the “Out of the Box” promo of PDOT — an online raffle open to  Americans and Canadians permanently residing in North America—who are 18 years old and above—and who have arrived in the Philippines from October 1, 2006 until December 31, 2007.  Visitors from North America who actually arrived in the Philippines, will have a chance to win fabulous prizes in the monthly, semi-annual and grand draws by simply logging on an providing their arrival details to www.experiencephilippines.ph

Prizes include a luxury condominium unit in Manila, business class airline tickets, domestic tour packages, money card and remittance packages, beauty, health and wellness treatments, eye surgery gift certificates, furniture and appliance showcases, shopping extravaganza; and duty-free shopping sprees, among others.

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