Philippines expects 108 delegates for Phitex 2010
Posted on August 29th, 2010
A total 108 delegates from wholesale travel agents from all over the world are coming to the Philippines for the upcoming 10th Philippine Travel Exchange (Phitex 2010) to forge deals with the different sectors of the local tourism industry.
Tourism Secretary Alberto A. Lim said that the delegates who will be coming in are large representations from outbound travel wholesales in China, Korea, Japan, Asia Pacific, North America, India, the Middle East and Europe. He said the Phitex 2010 is geared towards bringing in big volume of tourists from around the world.
“They will do business with 194 local sellers of tour packages, thus generating volumes of foreign visitors over the short and long term,” the tourism secretary said.
Phitex 2010 will be held on September 2 this year, at the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel. The event is an industry-based and government-supported marketing initiative that aims to link foreign wholesale buyers and local sellers of tourism products and services in a full day of one-on-one business meetings, with each delegate being accorded a number of pre-scheduled appointments for table-top discussions.
Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions (TPP) Vicente R. Romano III said this will effectively make the foreign wholesalers themselves to “push the Philippine tourism brand in their respective countries through OTC (over-the-counter) or POS (point-of-sale) promotion and other agency-driven consumer marketing schemes.”
“At the same time, their participation in Phitex 2010 will guide the members of the local tourism industry in conducting product development based on market-specific demands, or the actual requirement of their target foreign clients,” he added. This will help local industry players to learn more about the present and future global market opportunities that they could take advantage of.
“All in all, Phitex 2010 will boost and guide our efforts in focusing on infrastructure and product development since this event covers both ends (supply and demand) of the market spectrum,” the undersecretary said.
The theme of this year’s Phitex is “Awesome Philippines, Awesome Sceneries, Awesome Activities, Awesome Experiences.” The event will be officially opened by Secretary Lim who will speak on the strategic direction of the country’s tourism development for the duration of his term.
To welcome the participants for this year’s Phitex, a welcome dinner will be held in celebration of “A Decade of AWESOME Phitex Experience,” which will be jointly hosted by the Department of Tourism and Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila.
