Tag Archives: Philippines

The Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines is conducting its ‘Visit the Philippines Year (VPA) 2016’ roadshow today in Pune for its travel trade partners in the city. A 25-member delegation, comprising hoteliers, resorts, spas, and representatives of tour attractions, will interact with key travel and tour operators, MICE providers, up-market leisure operators and media personnel. Raymond Glen A. Agustin, Chief Tourism Operation Officer, Market Development Group- Russia, India & the Middle East, DOT Philippines, will lead the delegation. The roadshow will include interactive B2B sessions, education programmes and workshops to aid trade members in planning itineraries and responding to customer queries in these cities. The Indian market continues to be one of the important contributors of international visitors to the Philippines. In the upcoming year, targeting over 25% rise in outbound travel from India.

Registering a huge surge over last year, the Philippines has recorded a growth of 40.54 percent in visitor arrivals from India in October 2015. According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines, there were 6590 visitor arrivals in October 2015 against 4689 in October 2014. Between January-October 2015, 61,155 Indian tourists travelled to the Philippines, recording an increase of 24.13 per cent. The India has jumped up to the 12th position for tourist arrivals in the Philippines in September 2015 and is consistently maintaining the position in the top 12 markets. SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office India, has attributed the showing to be in line with DOT’s plan of achieving 100,000 Indian tourist arrivals by 2017. He said that the double-digit growth in arrivals can also be attributed to major metros as well as feeder markets. “One of the main reasons is the increase in disposable income for leisure and travel related pursuits amongst middle and affluent class travellers. There has also been a steady increase in MICE movements as well as FITs and small groups travel from India,’’ he said. Travel agents credited continuous efforts made by the Philippines Tourism Marketing Office for increase in visitor arrivals. Samina Munshi, Director, N Chirag Travels, said, “We have seen an increase in demand and more people are willing to visit the Philippines as a holiday destination. Due to the increase in awareness, we get many queries on a daily basis. We are quite hopeful that 2016 would definitely double the visitor arrival numbers for the Philippines.” Agents also mentioned that there is a definite requirement of new destination matching features such as sightseeing, shopping, entertainment, friendly, economical and safety. …

The Department of Tourism, Philippines, is showcasing its products at the Global Panorama Showcase (GPS), a premier networking event and business-to-business trade show that is held annually in Nagpur. Travel trade partners can take information from the Philippines’ booth no. 34 at Hotel Centre Point, Ramdaspeth, from January 8-10, 2016. Navritu Kaushal Rai, Account Director, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office, India, said, “We are happy to be a part of this premier travel trade show in central India, offering a remarkable platform to showcase travel products and services that the Philippines has to offer. Our focus will be to promote leisure and small groups travel and MICE movements. We are looking forward to the interactive business sessions with the travel trade partners, especially from the region of Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.”