Slated on march 24-26: ITF 2023 makes full comeback this month

Over a hundred tourism and travel stakeholders will join the upcoming 8th International Travel Festival (ITF 2023) slated on March 24-26, 2023 at Ayala Center Cebu, complementing the thrust of the Philippine government to take advantage of the “revenge travel” phenomenon.

Known as the biggest consumer travel show, ITF lead organizer Stephanie Villahermosa of MyEventology Co., said the ITF full comeback after the two-year halt will banner the theme “Exactly What You Need,” with affordable, curated travel packages here and abroad will be offered in the three-day travel festival.

Last year, even with the unstable travel border opening, and stricter travel requirements, ITF-2022’s 56 exhibitors generated P82 million in business receipts with only 56 exhibitors.

“ITF 2022 was a game changer. It brought the spark the tourism industry needed to restart travel confidently after a global pandemic paralyzed travel. People started moving, making plans and slowly traveling within the country first then going further,” said Villahermosa.

Today, with a larger number of exhibitors, and heightened interest of consumers to travel, Villahermosa expects to generate a higher turn-out of bookings.

This year’s ITF will also mark the comeback of the Cebu Travel Exchange slated on March 23, 2023, at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.

A sub-event of ITF, the Cebu Travel Exchange is a business-to-business matching that connects buyers and sellers to develop better opportunities in the tourism space.

According to Villahermosa the convergence of travel and tour providers such as airlines, hotels, resorts, airlines, hotels, resorts, tour and travel agencies, cruises, visa specialists, travel insurance, and regional tourism boards, among others provides an avenue for consumers to pursue their travel plans without spending too much.

Villahermosa, who also owns and operates a travel agency, Divaishnavi Travel, and Tours affirmed that interest to travel has gone up in the most surprising way after the pandemic in both inbound and outbound packages.

The Philippine government, through the Department of Tourism (DOT), targets to reach at least 4.8 million international arrivals this year.

According to DOT-7 chief tourism operations officer, Gelena Asia-Dimpas, events such as ITF, are encouraged in order to help the Philippines achieve tourism full recovery faster.

“The three-day event is an opportunity for Filipinos to reclaim what they’ve been deprived of the past two years. Events like ITF and Cebu Travel Exchange give us a positive signal that indeed we are on track to full recovery by the end of 2023,” said Dimpas.

According to Dimpas, the DOT is in close collaboration with tourism stakeholders in the country, to help the Philippines capitalize on its tourism charm to boost the tourism economy.