A Philippine adven-tour

MANILA, Philippines -  This four-letter word can send a woman’s pulse racing and the palms of her hands sweating. It can even make her vision blur her reason. Of course, we’re talking about something so close to every woman’s heart: SALE.

So, naturally, we didn’t think twiceno, we didn’t think at allwhen we were invited to a sale just recently. What was on sale, you ask? The Philippines!

Yes, the Philippines is on sale and here’s your chance to bid at the Bid ng Bayan of the 21st Philippine Travel Martan online bidding of numerous exciting tour packages that start as low as P500. Yes, only P500, believe it or not!

THE WOWS AND WHYS

“The Philippine Travel Mart is an annual event featuring all destinations,” says Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA). “For this year, we decided to adopt the theme ‘Why I love the Philippines.’ We would like to send a message to the new administration to keep the ‘Wow Philippines’ brand; continuity is the name of the game. The brand has caught on. It’s very expensive to come up with a re-branding.”

This year, the Philippine Travel Mart, slated for September 3-5 at the Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall, Ortigas, has wrapped up some really attractive packages that include some of the must-visit places in the country.

“We have from low-budget to high-end destinations that cost from a mere P500 to P25,000,” Cesar tickles our curiosity. “Among the initial packages we’ve come out with is a day trip that costs P500, like a culinary walking tour of Binondo, where you can savor the famous Chinese lumpia.”

“Oh, yes, we have a lot of budget tours,” Cynthia Carrion, COO, Philippine Tourism Promotions Board, teases the wanderlust in us. “We have tour packages nationwide, from Manila to Mindanao, like the Samal Islands.”

For instance, a Tagaytay overnight package, inclusive of accommodation, breakfast, and activities, costs only P1,500 per person. A trip to the coconut estate of Villa Escudero nestled at the foot of Mt. Banahaw costs P2,900 per person, inclusive of a refreshing lunch by the creek. For something more expensive but will not necessarily send you to the poor house, there’s Bohol whose Chocolate Hills and awesome seascape and landscape will melt even the most jaded heart.

FROM HIGHLAND TO ISLAND

But of course, the Island Getaway packages feature places like Boracay (P6,800 per person for three days and two nights); culture-rich Laoag (P7,300 per person); Davao for a highland-to-island holiday (P8,900 per person for three days/two nights inclusive of roundtrip airfares, accommodation, breakfast, transfers, activities); Iloilo that’s rich in heritage and culinary tradition (P7,800 for three days/two nights with roundtrip fares, accommodation, breakfast).

Of course, at the Sale ng Bayan, prices of your dream destinations will be offered at such low prices you wouldn’t imagine even in your wildest dreams.

Another attraction of the event is the Local Corporate Buyer’s Program where company buyers planning to organize fun teambuilding activities or any incentive travel for employees can avail themselves of superb deals.

There are the well-known tourist places that you’ve probably seen and the little-known ones that you must have dreamed of seeing someday.

“Have you seen the underwater hotel in Coron, Palawan?” Cesar asks me.

I vigorously shake my head. Coron what? Where? Suddenly, I’m bitten by the travel bug.

MISIBIS ON MY MIND

“We have a very rosy outlook for Philippine tourism,” Cynthia declares. “We have so many tourist spots we can promote. We have Camarines Sur; Misibis, Legaspi, where there are first-class hotels. And they’re not just beautiful, you can do a lot of things there. People want to go to a place that’s not only beautiful but also where there are things to do. They can do the sights, run, swim, etc.”

Are there places Cynthia will personally recommend?

“It depends on what you’ve seen,” she stresses. “Like Bohol or Batanes would be something new to see.”

Cynthia delves deeper, quite literally and figurately, into the subject: “Diving is a niche market that has gone up by 62 percent. We have so many diving spots in the country, some of which are the best in the world.”

Cynthia tells us that this is the first time the Philippine Travel Mart is going to be under the TPB (Tourism Promotions Board), an agency enacted by Congress in 2009. “Finally, it has funds to promote and market the Philippines. Before, there were human resources but no funds.”

“We’re working with the private sectorstravel, accommodation, airlines, etc.and all agencies of the government, not just the Department of Tourism,” Cynthia points out. “This is the only country where the DOT is working with other agencies; in other countries, they’re fighting.”

24-CARAT CARAMOAN

She adds, “We’re inviting investors so we could build 3,700 plus rooms. We’re thinking of a lot of investments. Like there’s this Russian investor who wants to develop Caramoan in Camarines Sur. He’s putting up a big hotel. One of his investors is a high-ranking Russian government official. But he wants Camsur to build an airport. He came here right away and talked to Camsur Gov. LRay Villafuerte Jr. And then there’s this Italian who has a nice resort in Indonesia. He looked at the Philippines and saw that the government is helping the private sector a lot. The Indonesian government is not helping the private sector at all. He told me he wanted to get out of Indonesia and put up his resort in the Philippines because here, he can get a lot of help from the government.”

Cesar notes, “They say the Philippines is very expensive and the reason for this is we don’t have an excess room capacity for the leisure market, unlike Thailand or Indonesia, which can come up with really much lower rates. We need more tourism infrastructure.”

7,107 WAYS TO SEE THE COUNTRY

“There are 7,107 ways to enjoy the Philippines,” Cesar counts.

And don’t forget medical/beauty tourism. “There’s the Health and Wellness Alliance of the Philippines (HEAL). And a lot of associations are within thatspa, medical, eye doctors, even an Alzheimer’s group,” Cynthia enumerates.

She sighs and adds, “We only have 3.1 million tourists compared to the 14 million of Thailand. But we’re not aiming for that. I don’t believe in quantity, I go for qualitytourists who will spend for wine instead of buying soft drinks. Because if we have only like 10 beds, we need to get tourists who will spend for the 10 beds, instead of getting backpackers who will not spend. And to get these tourists, we have to open our doors to Europeans, the long-staying tourists, and moneyed people.”

Like the Pinoy travelbugs, foreigners will love a Philippine adven-tour.

The Philippines for sale? Going, going, gone!

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Wanna bid? Visit www.philtravelmart.com.