UP CLOSE: PHILTOA’s Malou Japson and Harold Atondo talk about 35th PH Travel Mart

PTVPhilippines

UP CLOSE: PHILTOA’s Malou Japson and Harold Atondo talk about 35th PH Travel Mart  For more news, visit:  ►https://www.ptvnews.ph/  Subscribe to our DailyMotion Channel: ►http://www.dailymotion.com/peoples-television-incorporated  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ►http://www.youtube.com/ptvphilippines  Like our Facebook pages: ►PTV: http://facebook.com/PTVph  ►Rise and Shine Pilipinas: https://www.facebook.com/riseandshinepilipinas  Follow us on Twitter:  ►http://twitter.com/PTVph  Follow us on Instagram: ►https://www.instagram.com/ptvph  Watch our livestream on:  ►http://ptvnews.ph/livestream/ ►https://www.dailymotion.com/PTVPhilippines  Watch our News Programs, every Mondays to Fridays  Rise and Shine Pilipinas - 6:00 - 8:00 am Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon - 12:00 - 1:00 pm Sentro Balita - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Ulat Bayan - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm PTV News Tonight -  9:30 pm - 10:30 pm  Saturday & Sunday: ►Ulat Bayan Weekend - 6:15 pm - 7:00 pm

Transcript

00:00The Department of Tourism, or DOT, records 3,554,207 visitor arrivals as of August,

00:07made by a growing emphasis on sustainability as ecotourism gains traction.

00:13The industry's digital transformation, including online booking and virtual tours,

00:17has further supported this recovery. Overall, the surge in visitor numbers is positively

00:23impacting the country's economy, contributing to the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, growth

00:29and revitalizing local businesses. As the tourism sector continues to adapt and innovate,

00:35it is set to play a significant role in the country's economic revival.

00:39Moreover, the 35th Philippine Travel Mart will be conducted to further boost and promote

00:45the diverse and vibrant tourism offerings of the country.

00:52And to give us details on the significant developments in the tourism industry

00:56and the upcoming 35th Philippine Travel Mart, we have with us here tonight,

01:00Philippine Tour Operators Association, or PHOTOA, Board of Trustees members, Malou Japson,

01:06who is also its first Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Strykers Travel Corporation,

01:12and Harold Atondo, the Secretary General and President of ATDX Incorporated.

01:18Good evening, Malou. Good evening. Good evening, Harold. Thank you for coming to Up Close tonight.

01:22Good evening, everyone. Great. I'm very excited. We all love to travel.

01:28And after post-pandemic, everyone is dying to get back in there and explore the world.

01:35Tourism being one of the fastest growing industries in the country, we'd like to know,

01:40with the upcoming event happening, how does the Philippine Travel Mart, or PTM, contribute to

01:46promoting sustainable tourism practices and what we call digitalization in the tourism industry?

01:54We all saw that this year's theme is highlighted as Love the Next Gen Tourism. Malou?

02:01Yes. With the theme, The Next Gen Tourism, we not only align with the Department of Tourism's

02:08directives, but also this is our own response to the post-pandemic because we all know that

02:14after the pandemic, everything's changed. The face of tourism has changed,

02:18the attitude of the travelers have changed. So we are actually focused, this theme actually

02:23focuses on four pillars. Sustainability, digitization or innovation, inclusivity,

02:29and health and wellness. So this 35th PTM focuses on those four pillars. So we expect,

02:37I mean, our travelers expect a lot of surprising deals focusing on those four.

02:44Okay. Very interesting. Would you mind summarizing for us, Harold,

02:49what exactly the theme means? Love the Next Gen Tourism. Please tell us about it.

02:54This is mostly a behavior of the new generations. It's not only for the young generation, but it's

03:01also symbolic for a representation of the behavior of the entire tourism people or the travelers.

03:10Because right now, as what Ms. Malou mentioned, the behavior of the travelers becomes more,

03:19they are more in control right now in terms of their experiences. So that's why we also offer

03:26from the first stage of the Philippine Travel Mart, that digitization is already there. They

03:31can already purchase tickets online ahead of time, so it will avoid them to get into the long queue

03:39during the day. And they can see all those promos and other giveaways from the merchants

03:49online as early as July before we even started the PTM on site. Okay. Very, very curious. You

03:57know, with the advent of peace of fares and all of the discounted sites offering hotel plus airfare

04:05and even tours packaged all over the place and social media as well, what would differentiate

04:11the PTM experience from all of that? And I mean, that is also tech empowered, you know,

04:17being able to book online, going to all these sites. How does one get involved with the PTM?

04:22Do you also have a website? Do we need to be there in person? Malou? Yes, we have actually our PTM

04:28website. And with regards to promo, actually, the airlines are giving a special promo. You can only

04:34avail during the event. And also the two operators who will be participating, just like myself,

04:39I have a booth there. So we already designed exclusive packages to be sold just in the PTM.

04:49Okay, so we need to be there in person to be able to book our travel. But we are also tech empowered,

04:56to say the least, so we can book our travel on our phone. For the convenience itself.

05:01We address that demands from the public, that they wanted to pay cashless, they wanted to get

05:07all the information on their hands, and available for them whenever they wanted it. And then on the

05:14site itself, we are offering experiences like a face to face human intervention, if I may say so,

05:22so that all the questions that we can already answer it, and the representation from different

05:27regions will be there. So from region one to region 18. Every travelers will visit the event,

05:35they will not just see packages or piece of fare. But they will also see the products,

05:42the culture, the different colors of each region. So it's like a big celebration for everyone.

05:46And that's what we're really excited about. Because those are the things that

05:51robotics cannot actually take over from us.

05:54That's right. No AI can actually replace the human touch and, you know, developing that human

05:59connection, you know, okay. You mentioned earlier that there are a lot of there's a lot of

06:05participation from the different provinces, you know, it has been said that there is nearly 300

06:11diverse entities in this event. And we also have, like you mentioned, airlines and tourism offices.

06:17How does this impact also the availability of options? You mentioned, we'll be able to learn

06:24more about the culture. But is there someone they're offering specific tours per location

06:29for cities? Yes, actually, since we are being participated by all the regions,

06:34of course, there is a variety of offerings. Actually, the Department of Tourism just

06:40launched the PEP or the Philippine Experience Program. So there is a booth there exclusive for

06:44PEP. So that is something new for the tourism offerings.

06:49Okay, what is PEP? Is this someone new to the province who can experience

06:54the culture, the food, the authentic experience of being in that province?

06:58Yeah, it's the total Philippine Experience Program. So from the emerging destination

07:04to the matured one. So it is a package composed of something what Philippines is all about.

07:12Yeah, and I think what's really important here is, you mentioned there is representation from

07:16the different regions, you know, we have very common destinations, not that I'm discouraging

07:21it, but there are also beautiful islands that are also untouched and undiscovered. So I think it is

07:26also helping promote lesser known destinations. What do you think are some of the destinations

07:32that a lot of people should also come visit? The best approach for that is actually the

07:38twinning. You know, when Boracay started, it used to be an emerging destination as well.

07:43But since it is very close to Iloilo, it was being twinned to Iloilo. And look at Boracay now,

07:47it's already a mature destination. So the approach is like, you twin something that is not known yet

07:53with something or a place that is already known. So that is our approach, twinning or multi-destination

08:00approach. Okay, Harold, let me point this question to you. We have a lot of incoming tourism trends.

08:08That has also sprouted post-pandemic. Of course, we have health and wellness travel. And then we

08:14also have travel that's more equipped, like you said, to be able to get the authentic experience

08:19of the location. And then you also have transformative travel, people that want to

08:23just volunteer in the place and, you know, like impact the place in a positive way.

08:27What are some of the, I would say, top rising tourism trends in the Philippines?

08:32Right now, we see a lot of increase in the visits of kamikine and also the culinary experience,

08:41especially in Zamboanga area. As what Ms. Malou mentioned earlier, like twinnings or multi-city,

08:48we called it, they coined it actually Zambasulta. Zamboanga, Basilan,

08:54Tawitawi, all together. So people will experience the entire dynamics of those

09:02different provinces, not just for the experience, but also the interaction with the ethnic,

09:07different ethnic groups, and even religions, as we say. So because in Zamboanga, we know that there are

09:15Muslims, our Muslim brothers and sisters, and also the presence of Christians.

09:19So those different immersions and different interactions with the locals are something that

09:25is getting into the trend right now. Because like what I mentioned earlier, people are more in

09:31control of their travel right now. It's not the ordinary people just sitting on the bus and then

09:36looking at the nicest places. Now they want to be learning how to cook. Even agritourism is

09:42there. Dive tourism is also very popular right now. I mentioned already, culinary is very, very,

09:50very in demand right now. So from the north to the south and east and west of Philippines,

09:57we have different offerings in terms of experiences. And that's where the DOT is

10:03backing on with the Philippine Experience Program. And those different experiences,

10:08you can all see that on the upcoming Philippine Travel Mart. Yeah, you know, I'd like to call to

10:14mind that one of, I think, one of the rising trends based also on the pandemic is people

10:19had the ability to work from home. And now they're trying to combine working remotely while also

10:24traveling. I think they call it bleasure or something like that. Yeah, but for me, I think

10:28I'm more of a staycation person since I'm trapped in the city at the moment. But anyway, of course,

10:34this whole event would not be made, I would say, more in the spotlight and highlighted without

10:40the role of media partners. What do you think the media partners, and I would say also our

10:44government partners, the role that they play to be able to heighten visibility and also impact

10:51the overall goals and alignment of PTM in general? Of course, they play a very, very important role

10:57in promoting our event, not only just the event, because when they promote the event, of course,

11:02they promote the entire Philippines. Because the PTM, well, it's really participated by the entire

11:09regions of the Philippines. So the media is helping us a lot in sharing the words and sharing those

11:17important information to the traveling public. And we thank our media partners for that.

11:21Okay, great. Before we end this extremely exciting interview, Harold, pleased to invite our

11:30viewers across the country as well to join you at the upcoming PTM event.

11:34Right. If I may add also, with what Ms. Malou mentioned, for me, the information is always

11:40very vital. So thank you for the help. Thank you for this guesting, because that will give confidence

11:45to all our viewers to really patronize and go and try the experience of what our offerings

11:52on this coming 35th Philippine Travel Mart. So again, we are inviting everyone to start

11:58purchasing their ticket. You can go to www.philtravelmart.com buy tickets.

12:05All major mode of payment is accepted from GCash to Paymaya and other banks credit cards.

12:14You can purchase your tickets as early as now for the coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We have

12:22discounts for PWD seniors and students. They are very much welcome to go and see

12:29the offerings of Philtova for the 35th Travel Mart.

12:33Oh, before I forget, this is not just a Philippine-centered travel. Is it also

12:37for international destinations? Yes.

12:40So all across the globe. Okay, perfect. Well, we'd like to thank you so much for your time,

12:44Malou Japson and Harold Atondo. Thank you so much. Have a great evening.

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