Expo to highlight tourism growth in North Phils

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Tourism is staging an exposition that will mark the unprecedented rise of visitor arrivals in North Philippines.

Among the highlights of the NorthPhil (North Philippines) Tourism and Travel Expo 2012 will be the phenomenal increase in the passenger volume of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), named as the “Third Best Airport Freeport Zone in the World” based on a survey by FDI magazine of the London-based Financial Times Group.

“The DMIA is expected to hit its target of servicing close to a million passengers before the end of 2012 and this will be a boon to tourism in the entire North Philippines,” said DOT-Central Luzon director Ronnie Tiotuico of the significance of this year’s NorthPhil Expo.

“Thus, North Philippines is approaching a milestone in tourism,” Tiotuico added.

Slated at the Marquee Mall in Angeles City, Pampanga on Nov. 9-11, the NorthPhil Expo 2012 will be presented by the DOT regional offices — CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region), Region 1 (Ilocos and Pangasinan), Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), and Region 3 (Central Luzon) — with the support of the Association of Tourism Officers of Central Luzon, Central Luzon Tourism Council, and Philippine Exhibits and Themeparks Corp.

This three-day event is supported by Cebu Pacific and the Philippine Retirement Authority as major sponsors, and by Business Mirror, Sun Star Pampanga, Punto Central Luzon and CLTV 36 as media partners.

The event will showcase indoor and outdoor exhibits featuring popular, new and emerging tourism destinations and attractions, and travel-related products and services.

The indoor exhibits will include tourism and travel destinations, products and services, provincial pavilions, and corporate booths offering affordable and exciting package tours.

On the other hand, the outdoor exhibits will have traders’ booths selling arts and crafts, souvenirs and regional products and delicacies at farm gate prices.

The expo will treat visitors to three days of fun involving cultural presentations, corporate game shows, raffle draws, crafts, culinary demonstrations, and a food festival.

The exhibitors will include companies in agri-tourism, eco-tourism, time share and leisure properties, airlines and air alliances, hotels and resorts, national and local government agencies, restaurants, retirement villages, spa resorts and destinations, themeparks and amusement centers, foreign tourism boards, tourism transport operators, travel and tourism associations, publications, guides and maps, travel insurance, and wellness centers, among others.

The expected visitors are conference and convention organizers, educational institutions, government entities, international and domestic travelers, local, foreign and corporate buyers, tour organizers, planners and holiday specialists, travel agents and tour operators, travel enthusiasts, and the general public.

The event’s venue is a 9.3-hectare lifestyle hub spanning three floors with over 350 stores and restaurants. Marqee Mall is Ayala Mall’s first foray in Central Luzon, where it blends modern and traditional settings for a perfect tourism showcase.

Central Luzon and the three other regions of North Philippines continue to contribute significantly to the country’s total tourism volume.

Tiotuico said North Philippines’ major destinations alone accounted for nearly 14 percent or over 1.55 million of the country’s foreign and domestic tourist volume of 11.7 million in 2010.

“To raise those figures even further and boost the region’s economy, we are staging again the NorthPhil Expo this year as both a travel trade promotion and a consumer marketing event for both foreign and domestic markets,” Tiotuico said.

This annual expo has been drawing local and international attention to North Philippines, which hosts a diverse but contiguous sprawl of tourism attractions boasting two international gateways — the DMIA in Clark and the international freeport in Subic, which also has its own airport.

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