Tara na sa Norte Travel Fair opens today

MANILA, Philippines - Crowds of tourism bigwigs and students from various parts of the country are poised to gather at the Atrium of Robinson’s Place in Ermita, Manila today for the opening of the Tara na sa Norte Travel (TNT) Fair to support its bid to make North Philippines a global destination.

Invited to open the TNT fair are former senator and Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon, Tourism Undersecretaries Daniel Corpuz and Victoria Jasmin, and Assistant Secretaries Benito Bengzon Jr. and Domingo Ramon Enerio III, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) general manager Mark Lapid, US embassy’s acting economic attaché Brent Christensen, Indonesian embassy’s social and cultural section head Toto Waspodo, Air Asia Philippines chief executive officer Marianne Hontiveros, Bases Conversion and Development Authority chairman Felicito Payumo, Clark Development Corp. president Eduardo Oban Jr., Clark International Airport Corp. president Victor Luciano, and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. president and CEO Ramoncito Hernandez, among many others, including regional officials, industry leaders, beauty queens, and fashion icons of Germany and the Netherlands.

Organized by the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), the fair is supported by private firms Maynilad, Sun Cellular, Informatics and Air Asia, government agencies CDC, Department of Tourism, Tourism Promotions Board, TIEZA and BCDA, and members of the over 5,000-strong national student movement dubbed as Tourism Educators And Movers (TEAM) Philippines.

The fair is designed to haul large volumes of local and foreign tourists to the North by showcasing the region’s rich and diverse natural and cultural attractions during its three-day run, according to chairman Bobby Joseph of TEAM Philippines, which has mobilized its members from some 600 schools nationwide.

“TEAM Philippines finds the event as an ideal venue to advocate world-class standards in the tourism curriculum and best practices in the profession, while promoting the many still undiscovered destinations north of Manila all the way to Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte and Aparri in Cagayan Valley,” Joseph said.

“Thus, we are out to make the fair a multi-sectoral event by bringing in all the current and future players in the industry, including tourism students who are bound to become its future leaders. And for that matter, tomorrow, July 14, is the fair’s Academe Day,” Joseph said.

Meanwhile, today is the fair’s Travel Agents’ Day, and Sunday, July 15, the Family and Consumers’ Day.

MNTC president and chief executive officer Rodrigo Franco said all three special sectoral days would highlight the three pillars of the tourism value chain.

Being managed by Afro Asian World Events (AWE), the fair includes exhibits, business networking, fashion and cultural shows and competitions, and various presentations highlighting the rise of North Philippines as Southeast Asia’s travel and tourism capital as envisioned by the MNTC.

“The MNTC is determined to make the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) serve its tourism purpose of taking the world to the North,” said AWE president Angel Ramos Bognot.

Serving as the world-class infrastructure backbone of the North’s intricate road network, NLEX leads to two popular international gateways — Clark and Subic — and many other points of entry to serve as hubs in developing numerous tourism clusters in this vast portion of mainland Luzon.

“The NLEX is the main artery to the North, making it an infrastructure showcase along with all the tourism facilities to be promoted in the fair,” Franco said.

Invited to join the fair as exhibitors are destination management companies, tour operators, travel agencies, airlines, land transport firms, cruise ships, hotels and resorts, specialty restaurant chains, retailers, banks, and many other product and service providers.