Global collaboration key to tourism recovery, PTAA exec says

MANILA, Philippines— A tourism group executive underscored the need to collaborate with different international travel organizations for the recovery of the tourism industry.

The Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), one of the largest and most prestigious associations of travel agencies in the country, convened last September 22 to hold its fifth membership meeting and launch the 10th Emerging Outbound Destinations.

At that meeting, PTAA president Michelle Taylan reported the positive developments in the tourism industry and stressed that the key to tourism recovery is collaboration.

Taylan cited that PTAA met with the members of the Federation of Asean Travel Association (FATA) and Asean Tourism Association (ASEANTA) to exchange notes on how they could work to achieve the common goal for the tourism industry.

PTAA also attended a travel fair organized by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents ( MATTA).

The travel agencies org also signed a memorandum of understanding with MATTA on how the two countries could promote tourism, especially outbound travel.

Taylan said it is looking forward to teaming up with other foreign governments and embassies to advance the Philippines’ tourism industry.

“These cooperations between different travel organizations will surely reinvigorate outbound travel and eventually result in a robust international travel industry,” she said.

For PTAA’s 10th Emerging Outbound Destinations, several presenters showcased new and untapped international travel destinations to promote outbound travel.

Ambassadors from Israel and Egypt and representatives from the embassies of Turkey and USA attended to provide updates on the status of their tourism industry and promote their different tourist attractions in their respective countries.

They also discussed the travel opportunities in their countries and invited the public to visit and enjoy their unique and attractive tourist destinations.

Meanwhile, Taylan said there have been strong signs of recovery of the industry since more people are now traveling after countries eased travel restrictions.

She cited the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) study that in the first five months of 2022, almost 250 million international travelers have been recorded, higher than the 77 million travelers recorded in the same period last year. The figures, she said are equivalent to an over 300% increase.

“Though it still far from the pre-pandemic figures, the number of tourist arrivals is very encouraging and it clearly shows that the tourism industry is on the road to recovery and hopefully will reach the pre-pandemic levels of tourist arrivals in the near future” Taylan said.

The PTAA president also said the local travel scene is posing good numbers. The industry sources estimated the expected tourist arrivals for 2022 at 1 million.

As of August 2022, the expected number of tourists has been breached and the new projection for this year has been increased to 1.4 million. — Rosette Adel