MANILA, Philippines — The beginning of 2023 poses an optimistic outlook for the travel and tourism sector with the growing demand for trips.
In view of this, the Philippine Travel Agencies Association Inc. is currently mounting a three-day travel fair, the first post-pandemic travel expo.
This year, the PTAA’s 30th Travel Tour Expo 2023, also the 8th International Travel Trade Expo 2023, has the theme “A Better and Stronger Future of Travel Is Here,” that eyes to reinvigorate the thirst for travel following the slump brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through this event, travelers can enjoy as much as a 70% discount on airfares and promotions for tours and accommodations.
“The 30th TTE will offer the cheapest deals with up to more than 70% discount, offering new destinations, cultural competition, and the first conference within the venue with your favorite tourism speakers that will give you the latest travel updates and trends,” PTAA President Michelle Taylan said.
The expo is occupying two floors of the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City from February 3, Friday until 5, Sunday.
More than 300 participating exhibitors with 700 booths and a projected 80,000 to 100,000 visitors are anticipated during the expo's attendance. It is said to be the biggest number yet since 2020.
Among the exhibitors include airlines, airlines, travel agencies and tour operators, hotels and resorts, food concessionaires, government, national travel operators, travel and tour, association, embassies, theme parks and entertainment, cruise liners, shipping, insurance, travel essentials, travel-related entities, foreign-based travel agencies, and tour operators.
One of the participating hotel groups, Hotel 101 Group, the hospitality arm of DoubleDragon Corporation, said that it is offering a hotel accommodation voucher valid for all its hotels.
Its head of public relations, Brian Ong said the voucher can be used in hotels at Hotel101 – Manila, Injap Tower Hotel in Iloilo City, Jinjiang Inn – Ortigas, Makati, and Boracay Station 1.
“We are selling this for Php2,500nett, and it is only available during this coming 3-day expo. What’s good about it is that the hotel voucher can also be used in our upcoming hotels at Hotel101 – Fort and Hotel101 – Davao, when they open later this year,” Ong added.
The hotel group is optimistic about the stronger future of travel.
“The hotel accommodation sector is ready to welcome back travelers to the country, as projected by the Department of Tourism in their tourism arrival targets and projects year. We have all the safety protocols already in place in our hotels, and the new offerings for staycations and business travels,” Hotel101 Group General Manager Gel Gomez said.
PTAA shared the same outlook, citing that travels will also be driven by the anticipated long weekends of 2023.
“As the first post-pandemic Travel Tour Expo, we expect a revenge travel that can greatly boost the travel industry and encourage the tourism stakeholders to open their businesses and try to recover lost opportunities,” the travel association said in a release.
“As the tourism industry recovers, it will highlight the important role it plays in the economy as a top dollar earner, generate employment opportunities and spur infrastructure development,” it added.
The public may visit Travel Tour Expo at the SMX Convention Center this weekend with tickets priced at P70 and P50 for general admission and senior citizens, respectively.
The travel expo is sponsored by the Department of Tourism, Tourism Promotions Board, Unionbank, Philippine Airlines, Airswift, United Airlines, PLDT, Hotel 101, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) Guam Visitors Bureau.