Tourism, real estate leaders meet in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Industry leaders and business practitioners in real estate and tourism development from the US, Europe, the Philippines and other Asian countries are gathering in Manila for the 4th Philippine Real Estate Festival (PREF) on July  29 to 31 this year at the World Trade Center.

Said to be the “biggest and grandest real estate fiesta” that will be held in the country this year, the Real Estate and Tourism Festival will  provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and best practices in the growth and development of real estate and tourism in the Philippines and its global partners

Five international speakers, together with top Philippine industry leaders, are coming to speak on international perspectives on developing real estate and tourism with possible prospects of forging joint venture agreements and other collaborations with groups from their respective countries.

Tourism heavyweights in the region, such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia will share some of their best practices and model projects that have helped draw consistently heavy tourist traffic into their urban and rural communities.

Festival chair Rosemarie C. Basa says the real-estate-tourism festival aims to focus national attention on the growth potentials for the tourism industry as another engine of growth for the national economy, under the theme: “Global Tourism and Real Estate Development – Sunrise Industries for the Philippine Economy”.

In its three previous runs, the Festival focused principally on the housing and urban development sector due to a continuing strong demand in the Philippines for housing in all categories, whether low-cost, medium-priced or upscale.

In recent years, however, investors are showing growing interest in the tourism potentials of the Philippines for the global market, Basa says.

New infrastructure projects in the Philippines, such as international airports, modern toll roads and expressways, including the nautical superhighway from north to south of the Philippines, are convincing global investors to take a closer look at the country, Basa says.

As in its previous the Real Estate Festival will showcase successful models and practices in real estate and tourism development, link up fund providers and managers with developers and other investors in new emerging projects aimed at the global market and engage local governments as purposeful investors in real estate and tourism development.

There will be symposia and panel discussions on specific topics of interest to the real estate and tourism industries, featuring distinguished local and foreign practitioners; exhibits, displays and demonstrations that showcase successful models and best practices in real estate and tourism development and management; business matching between and among participating entities, foreign or local; linking up of fund providers and managers with developers and other investors in new emerging projects aimed at the global market; and engaging local governments as purposeful investors in real estate and tourism development.

For inquiries, email [email protected] or call Tel. 8192058/8640224  or 09081608387.