In an effort to promote the Philippine domestic tourism by providing tourism stakeholders and industry players a venue to transact businesses among sellers, buyers and public consumers, the Tourism Promotions Board launched the 3rd Regional Travel Fair in SM City Bacolod, Negros Occidental.
On October 25-28, the Regional Travel Fair was a three-day event that showcased a two-day Business-to-Consumer (B2C) selling of domestic packages, and a half-day Business-to-Business (B2B) opportunity with invited DOT accredited tour operators, sellers and buyers nationwide.
The program was made to be inclusive; participated in by travel tour operators, travel agents, domestic hotels and resorts, destination management companies and domestic airlines from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao offering best deals.
Domestic programs and activities, package tours, special fares, sales calls, travel exchange and the like were offered in the program in order to promote local tourism products and services. This is line with TPB’s mission to develop and implement aggressive marketing strategies in attracting, encouraging, increasing, and sustaining domestic travel businesses nationwide in strategic partnership with local industry suppliers.
The first leg of the Regional Travel Fair happened in Legaspi, Albay last May 17-20, while the second leg was held in Davao City on August 16–18.
Former TPB Officer-in-Charge Arnold Gonzales said, “Domestic tourism makes a substantial contribution to the industry’s overall financial resilience, sustainability and functionality. It is in this light that TPB organized Regional Travel Fair – to attract local and foreign tourists and tourism professionals to visit and explore the Philippines.”
According to latest results of the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts (PTSA) which provides information on tourism expenditure and employment, domestic tourism expenditures, which includes expenditure of resident visitors within the country grew by 19.1%, from Php 1,770.7 billion in 2015 to Php 2,108.2 billion in 2016.
Employment in tourism characteristic industries was estimated at 5.2 million in 2016, higher by 5.1% compared to 5.0 million in the previous year while share of employment in tourism industries to total employment in the country was recorded in 12.8% in 2016.
“Through the Regional Travel Fair, we are opening and providing opportunities for those working in domestic tourism to develop a more robust and cohesive approach to the sector, which in turn will grow business. We are happy how the first leg of the program turned out and we are eager to continue this in the coming years,” Gonzales added.
