Foreign travel agents to tour North Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign travel agents who will promote the Philippines to their clients back home will have their own first-hand experience of the country’s finest tourism destinations, attractions, and exciting activities across the northern segment of the archipelago.

Constituting this so-called North Philippines are the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos and Pangasinan (Region 1), Cagayan Valley (Region 2), and Central Luzon (Region 3), parts of which will be visited by the foreign travel agents.

They will be flown in by Cebu Pacific Air for the North Philippines (NorthPhil) Tourism and Travel Expo 2011, which will be held at the SM City Clark on Nov. 11 to 14.

They will view the NorthPhil Expo exhibits before engaging in business activities with local tourism firms in the Buyers Meet Sellers program the following day.

The program, which will be held at the Holiday Inn Clark, is the NorthPhil Expo’s business matching component for the foreign buyers and local sellers of tourism and travel packages, products and services.

As the program takes its course during the event, the expo shall treat visitors to three days of fun and excitement involving theatrical and cultural extravaganzas, corporate game shows, product presentations, raffle draws, and crafts and culinary demonstrations.

To the foreign travel agents, however, these activities are just a preview of what they will soon experience in a multi-sensory fashion during their stay at the Holiday Inn Clark for their tour of the Clark Freeport Zone, according to Region 3 director Ronnie Tiotuico of the Department of Tourism (DOT).

“They will be feted for lunch at the Lighthouse Marina Resort during their tour of Subic Bay as facilitated by the SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority), before moving to the Manor at Camp John Hay during their tour of Baguio as arranged by DOT-CAR,” Tiotuico said.

“Nonetheless, the foreign buyers will also have a tour of Metro Manila while staying at the Richmonde Hotels in Eastwood City and Ortigas,” Tiotuico added.

All their flights will be handled by Cebu Pacific Air (CEB), the first domestic airline to base its operations in Clark.

Now a prestigious international airline, the CEB has the most number of domestic and ASEAN destinations from the Philippines and is the NorthPhil Expo’s official carrier.

The expo, according to Tiotuico, has evolved into a global marketing event highlighting the North Philippines as an international and domestic tourism hub and contributing to the DOT’s product, brand and market development efforts.

The expo’s tourism exhibits will feature the pavilions of the provinces of Aurora, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Tarlac, the freeport zones of Clark and Subic Bay, the DOT regional offices in North Philippines, and the corporate booths of various tourism-related businesses. This year’s expo will also be participated in by DOT regional offices in the Visayas and Mindanao.

To be showcased in the exhibit booths and pavilions are popular, new and emerging tourism destinations, attractions, and products and services that are unique to each region.

Supporting the expo are the Central Luzon Tourism Council, the provinces and DOT offices in North Philippines, and the Philippine Exhibits and Themeparks Corp. (PETCO) as event manager.           

For more information, contact PETCO at (632) 832-9303 to 05, fax (632) 556-2723, e-mail at northphilexpo@gmail.com or log on to www.northphilexpo.com.