PHITEX event rakes in P4.5 million bookings

MANILA, Philippines — The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism(DOT), successfully mounted the first hybrid edition of the Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX), which already registered an initial P4.5 million in bookings from foreign buyers.

In a press conference over the weekend, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said 14 percent of sellers that participated in the Travel Exchange (TRAVEX) portion of the PHITEX   generated 32 bookings, translating to P4.5 billion in revenues.

“These are not negotiated sales, these are bookings already,” Puyat said.

She expects the figure to grow further as 86 percent of the sellers have yet to submit their reports.

“This is actually a pleasant surprise for us, because who would think that people would still want to travel and want to come to the Philippines. And it shows that they have confidence that when they come to the Philippines their tourists will be safe,” Puyat said.

The TPB earlier reported that a total of 161 sellers had confirmed to participate in the virtual business-to-business (B2B) sessions of the PHITEX. Of the figure, 92 are hotels and resorts, 63 are tour operators, while the remaining are from the airlines industry, convention centers and incentive tour groups.

Based on initial reports from sellers, Puyat said the PHITEX established a total of 1,134 contacts.

“This is an average of 23 contacts per seller, 367 leads which is a 66 percent success rate,”Puyat said.

TPB chief operating officer Anthonette Velasco-Allones said revenues to be generated from PHITEX would be realized next year.

Apart from the generated bookings, Puyat said the PHITEX held last Sept. 22 to 24, showed that a hybrid meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE) can actually be done even in the midst of a pandemic.

The event, which was hosted by the province of Bohol, welcomed some of the participating sellers, while the remaining sellers as well as foreign buyers took part in the event through a virtual platform.

“This is already our pilot to show the other lgus that are afraid to open up that it can be done as long as health and safety protocols are in place,” Puyat said.

The tourism secretary said she continues to discuss with Bohol Governor Arthur Yap on the good practices learned from the hosting of the PHITEX as well as what else can be improved on for future events.

PHITEX is the largest government-organized travel trade event in the Philippines.

The recently held event featured buyers from opportunity markets such as Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland, among others.

Buyers from the country’s top source markets such as Korea, China, US, Japan and Australia also participated.

Apart from the TRAVEX portion, other key features of the hybrid PHITEX include webinars, interviews, roundatable discussions, Philippines 360/games, videos on demand and virtual tours.