BERLIN — The Philippines opened strongly on Wednesday at the ITB Berlin, with the booths of several travel agencies, tour operators, receiving a constant stream of visitors.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Jose C. Clemente III, president of Rajah Tours Philippines Inc. said, “Look at our booths…they’re all full, and it’s still early.” Representatives of some 20 private tourism stakeholders from the Philippines are participating in this year’s ITB Berlin.
The Philippines section opened at 10 am Wednesday, and soon after, Clemente noted, he and his colleagues were welcoming a lot of returning clients and new customers, who were making inquiries about several key destinations in the country.
Asked what was driving the seeming renewed interest in the Philippines, he explained, “I guess it’s the fact that number one, the country is not publicized as negatively as before, and the Philippines is the remaining undiscovered destination for them. Plus I think, our pricing is aligning with the demand of travel wholesalers, and accessibility is getting better as well.”
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, head of the Philippine delegation, underscored the importance of the country’s participation in the annual tourism trade fair, considered the largest in the world. “[The ITB] is one of the most important travel fairs in the world. It’s probably the only travel fair where all the travel ministers participate. It was important for me to make a big statement…we’ve made sure everything was quite experiential. We made sure the booth was beautiful. It’s not your typical booth, because when you have a beautiful booth made by a world renowned designer, Kenneth Cobonpue, it reflects the country. It shows we’re serious about promoting the country.”
The Philippines booth covers 253 square meters and was constructed at a cost of P10 million, according to a source in the Tourism Promotions Board, the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT). The Philippines is targeting to attract some 8.2 million foreign tourists this year, up 15.5 percent from the 7.1 million arrivals in 2018.
Also part of the Philippine delegation is Margarita Fores, Asia’s best female chef, who is creating and serving unique Filipino dishes for visitors at the Philippines booth. “Often you get to know a country from their food,” stressed Romulo Puyat, who has been championing Philippine cuisine as a key selling point for the Philippines, since she was undersecretary at the Department of Agriculture.
The DOT also brought Kiddo Cosio and Sly Samonte of El Union Coffee, one of the leading specialty coffee roasters in the country based in La Union, “to promote local coffee and to show the Philippines is into craft coffee,” said Romulo Puyat.
“The beauty of these four people we brought in,” she continued, “when you talk about El Union, they don’t just promote their products, they also talk about La Union, Kiddo talks about surfing in La Union…they also represent our top tourist destinations. Kenneth will talk about Cebu, how beautiful Cebu is, and we’re proud of the craftsmanship; his showroom is actually a tourist destination. Margarita, who comes from Negros Occidental, proudly talks about it. But she not only talks about Negros food, but she also talks about Adlai rice from Bukidnon, about pili and laing from Bicol, [and] she talks about all the ingredients that you can only find and are indigenous to the Philippines.”
On Wednesday evening, the DOT is premiering its refreshed Philippines brand campaign at The Reed, before a gathering of international travel agencies, tour operators, traditional media and social media influencers. The campaign is anchored on the It’s More Fun on the Philippines slogan, and aims to get the public to participate by creating memes using their personal travel photos and slogan.
The private tourism stakeholders participating in this year’s ITB are El Nido Resorts, Travelite Travel and Tours Co., Blue Horizons Travel and Tours Inc., Baron Travel Corp., Intas Destination Management Inc., Bohol Beach Club, Travel Experts Inc., Rajah Tours, Amorita Resort, Ansett Holidays, Crimson Resorts, Plantation Bay Resort & Spa, Kapwa Travel & Tours Inc., Movenpick Resort and Spa Boracay, Wakay Tours, Sharp Travel Service, South Palms Resort, Club Agutaya Inc., and The Lind Boracay.
Photos by Ma. Stella Arnaldo