French travel agents at the Wellness workshop, checking the banana leaves used for traditional 'hilot' massage.

With travel prospects looking brighter ahead, the Department of Tourism (DOT) expands its marketing efforts through a series of seminars and experiential tours during their visit.

Top wholesalers from France, namely Jettours, Vacances Transat, Visiteur en Asie and Asia Voyages visited the country’s prime destinations such as Manila, Ilocos, Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, and Palawan, for intensive seminars and workshops about the country and a business exchange with the Philippines’ leading industry players.

Spearheaded by the DOT, the familiarization tour featured activities such as a wellness orientation, folk dance workshop, and demonstrations on Philippine bar mixes and cuisine. More importantly, a specialized business –to– business matching session was held, where renowned tourism industry players in the country met with French tour operators and agents.

Tinikling workshop with Bayanihan Dancers

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said, “Being a year-round destination, the Philippines is a country to be enjoyed by most French tourists. This niche segment of adventurers is still among our constantly growing market.”

“We aim to continue nurturing our strong tourism links with them to foster more vibrant business relations in the coming years. We are certain that the efforts we have invested will bear much fruit,” he added.

Eduardo Jarque, Jr., Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions noted, “We invite French tourists top come here to experience the warmth and culture that is distinctly Filipino, with our tourism facilities and services ready to welcome discriminating travelers.”

During the product presentation, Venus Tan, Tourism Attaché for DOT – Frankfurt, shared, “The Philippines is a destination to be experienced, which is why we have come up with a series of workshops for tour operators and agents. Getting to know the Philippines better will definitely let them promote the country to their market more effectively.”

The familiarization tours have been part of DOT’s integral marketing strategy, to focus on particular market segments. This move has been proven effective with the increase in tourist arrivals and investments from different regions such as Europe, Asia Pacific, China, Korea, Japan, India, and North America.

“Increased bookings and confirmations have been evident with the enhancement of our familiarization trips and seminars. The local industry players also benefit from strengthened linkages with Europe’s largest and most influential tourism players through these initiatives,” noted Verna Buensuceso, Head for DOT Team Europe.

Marketing Representative Andrew Gonzales noted, “We envision wholesalers to have individual programs featuring the Philippines, catered for the specific preferences of tourists. Diversity is a key strength of the country, with destinations that offer nature, adventure, and culture.”

A busy Philippine pavilion at the Taipei International Travel Fair 2009

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said, “Taiwan continues to be one of the country’s top source markets for nature-based travel. Prospects are high from this market, as we keep up our strong tourism links with this segment.”

Pointing to increased charter flights to Kalibo and Boracay, Durano noted, “Ease of travel is integral to tourism activity. With continued and additional charter flights, our most popular beach destinations can expect increased arrivals for the coming year ahead.”

The presentations and meetings with various airline officials and tourism leaders in Taiwan were led by Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions Eduardo Jarque, Jr., Ireneo Reyes, Taiwan Tourism Representative; Sonia Garcia, Director of DOT-Region 10, and Ma. Rica Bueno, Head of Team Asia Pacific.

“The Philippines remains an acknowledged tropical destination for our white-sand beaches. Moreover, our tourism facilities are ready to accommodate numerous travelers who are looking for that unique island getaway,” Jarque shared.

A total of 350 local travel agents attended the product presentation in the three cities which highlighted Davao as a new destination for Taiwanese travelers in the coming year. Garcia presented Davao’s ‘islands to highlands’ attractions.

Jarque noted, “Davao has the best of both worlds. For nature lovers who want to experience mountain trekking and afterwards enjoy the waters, this is truly the place for them.”

A highlight of the delegation’s visit was to strengthen existing tourism relations, particularly on the chartered flights from Taiwan to the Philippines.

Mandarin Airlines recently started the Taichung – Kalibo charter flight mid-October of this year, while China Airlines is continuing their Boracay charter service opened in May 2008. A possible re-opening of the Taipei – Cebu charter flight was likewise brought to the table with China Airlines through its Vice President James Yu.

Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines (PAL) also announced the newest addition to the various charter flights from Taipei to Kalibo. According to Sindy Lin, PAL Country Manager in Taiwan, “The PAL Taipei-Kalibo charter will start on December 9, 2009 using A320 aircraft with seating capacity of 150.”

Jarque expressed DOT’s gratitude for the continuing support of both airlines in providing direct charter service to Kalibo, the gateway to Boracay Island.

Boracay tops the list of favorite destination among the Taiwanese consumers followed by Cebu, Bohol, Palawan and Manila. The Taiwanese showed interest in dive sites, golf and English language program.

Alongside the promotional efforts was the Philippines’ active participation in the Taipei International Travel Fair (TITF) held at the Taipei World Trade Center, highlighting Davao as a premier nature and adventure destination.

For her part, Bueno said, “This year’s TITF attracted a bigger delegation from the Philippines. The participation of 17 tourism establishments from the private sector made the Philippine booth even stronger in promoting the country to Taiwanese tourists.”

The 63-sq. m. Philippine pavilion at the TITF provided a very good venue for Philippine sellers & partner agents to promote various tour programs. The booth adopted a beach wedding theme to promote the country as a beach wedding & honeymoon destination. Tour operators, hotel and resort’s representatives from Manila, Boracay and Davao joined the Philippine delegation.

The Center for Philippine Arts & Culture, Jeron Travel, Hafti Tours, Pearl of the Pacific, Crown Regency Hotels and Resorts, Patio Pacific, Busina Company Inc., El Nido Resorts, Boracay Regency, Subic Holiday, Cebu Pacific Air, Philippine Airlines, Surelite Travel & Tours, PR Travel Consultants, Inc. Southern Travel Corp., 829 One World Travel Express and St. Christopher Travel and Business Center, were the participants in this year’s productive country presentation.

Six local travel agents from Taiwan also joined the Philippine booth; namely A Team Travel Services; Fu Hsia Travel services; Wonderful Tours; Castle Tours; and De-Wey Study Abroad ESL Program.

“Both the Philippine private sector and the local agents reported good business deals for the country for 2010. Participants were able to get a total of 221 confirmed bookings for group tours and more than 800 queries were registered during the three – day fair,” Bueno added.

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The Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP) proposed this to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),

Industry group spokesperson Eden David of the Department of Tourism said the planned trip to Bali was basically for “bench marking” to orient the Davao tourism industry group on how a small place like Bali, Indonesia succeeded in making it a global tourism destination, despite the problem of terrorism and the bombings some years ago.

Bali was successful in utilizing its own local native attractions, which were mostly culture-based. It made itself one of the world’s most exotic place to visit, attracting millions of foreign tourists over the years to relish and experience Indonesian culture.

“If Bali can do it, we also have the resources and attractions to do it in Davao,” says Evelyn Perin, spokesperson of the tourism industry cluster.

Perin, who heads the finance and administration of the Department of Trade and Industry here, said the tourism industry cluster group agreed that the best way to know how Bali succeeded in its tourism program, is “to personally visit Bali, see all its attractions” and study how local tourism officials package, sell and market all its tourist spots.

The Davao tourism industry cluster on-going projects now underway include the setting up of a website for the entire region’s tour attraction, funded by JICA-DICCEP.

Also integrated into this website was an “interactive web-based mobile application to answer systematically any queries sent through text messages (SMS)”, according to a proposal submitted by Digilution, a web-design and systems programming outfit based in Davao.

Combining the power of the website with text messaging in promoting Davao region’s tour attractions is expected to increase the number of local visitors and travelers to the provinces’ different tour sites, according to Perin.

Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano said that more aircraft which includes an MD-83, Boeing 747-300 and 747-400 will be arriving sometime by September and November to complete its fleet in time for their operations this December. The MD-83 aircraft arrived at the DMIA last August 1.

The air carrier is expected to fly via, Taiwan, and Macau and in the Middle East via Qatar, Dubai, Bahrain, and Kuwait to serve the bulk of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) mostly coming from Central and Northern Luzon.

“This will benefit our OFWs working in the Middle East most of which are from the Central and Northern Luzon and attract more tourists to visit our country using DMIA,” Luciano added.

Luciano led other officials that include Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Spirit of Manila Chairman Basilio Reyes, President and CEO Jimmy Matibag and Vice President Rene Ocampo, and their foreign partner Vice Chairman Hamad Altani

“Spirit of Manila Airlines is the first large local carrier that will based their operations in Clark, and from here they will start flying out of DMIA very soon,” he said. According to Luciano the MD-83 aircraft would be used for the Clark-Taiwan flights.

“There are no flights between Taiwan and Clark, and this is the right time that we will now have flights via Taiwan,” he said.

“This is the first time, and even former President Fidel Ramos has been advocating for a Clark-Taiwan flights. The Taiwan flights would bring more Taiwanese businessmen to Clark,” Luciano stressed.

Luciano said the airline will also fly domestic operations in the future aside from the international operations at DMIA.

For his part, Mendoza hailed the entry of Spirit of Manila Airlines at DMIA, saying that it will boost the tourism and serve the OFWs in the Middle East and South East Asia.

“Sixty percent of our overseas workers are from the North Philippines, so Clark is a strategic place for Spirit of Manila Airlines and I expect the airline will have a cheaper air fare that will compete to other air carriers,” Mendoza added.

“They (Spirit of Manila) have chosen the best airport in the country for their operations in Clark,” he said. He said that this is one of the government’s effort in bringing more flights and new players at DMIA as envisioned by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.(