19th Philippine Travel Mart showcases the Philippines as adventure destination

The much-anticipated 19th Philippine Travel Mart unravels on September 12 to 14 at SM Mega Trade Hall with the promise of showing the same Philippines in a different light, throwing the spotlight on new activities in favorite and familiar destinations, as well as new exhilarating travel terrain off the beaten track high adventure spots.

Organized by the Philippine Tour Operators Association in cooperation with the Department of Tourism, the 19th Philippine Travel Mart is gearing to showcase the country’s adventure side with the theme “Triple X: Xtreme Adventure, Xtreme Wellness and Xtreme Leisure.”

This year’s theme coincides with the Department of Tourism’s new focus on adventure travel, and both highlight the travel public’s growing taste for extreme rush and recreation.

It will feature packages that highlight a different kind of Philippines that takes one from the beachside lounge chair and off on the surf, on a skimboard, on a raft, on a sail, on a hanging bridge, or off to the jungles on the look out for some of the world’s rarest birds.

The three-day Travel Mart is the country’s largest travel fair and features showcase pavilions of the regional tourism offices, tour operators, hotels, airlines and transport services, plus other usual stakeholders of the local travel industry.

So designed to spur local tourism and to draw foreign tourist traffic into the Philippine shores, this year’s Philippine Travel Mart will feature a heady buffet of adventure travel packages to choose from, covering a wide spectrum of intensity—from bird-watching in Cebu, spelunking in Boracay, ocean kayaking in Bohol or volcano-crater kayaking in Mount Pinatubo, to jungle trekking and treetop canopy walking in Subic, paddling and surfing in La Union, river-tubing in Kidapawan, and rafting and rappelling in Cagayan de Oro, among a host of numerous adrenaline-pumping travel options.

For those who are keen on all-out relaxation, the Xtreme Leisure packages of beach and mountain holidays are also available. Those searching for the rejuvenating high of wellness spas and other healing destinations can likewise have their pick of just the right kind of package that suits their vacation needs.

Adventure travel encompasses the principles that responsible travel embraces. Apart from the physical aspect, adventure travel also promotes encounter with nature and ecotourism, as well as cultural involvement in terms of interaction with the local communities.

For a peek into what’s coming in the travel fair, the 19th Philippine Travel Mart has collected the works of six photographers, Bahaghari, Levi Nahayangan, Romy Ocon, Ivan Sarenas, Nicky Sering, and Anton Sheker, for a visual tour of the country’s adventure-filled escape.

Dubbed “The Philippines Like You’ve Never Seen It Before”, the exhibit which will be launched on July 30, 2008 at the Travel Café in Greenbelt 5, captures the lesser-known side of the country’s idyllic countryside, the beautiful and rugged terrain, the raw power of nature, wildlife going even wilder, and the energy of the people.

For more information on the 19th Philippine Travel Mart, please call the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) at 812-4513 and Global Visions at 635-0350