21 January 2016 - Eight Philippine Ambassadors to Europe visited Iloilo from January 14 to 15 to discover how they can better promote Iloilo, and the Western Visayas Region as a whole, as a tourism and investment destination.

Iloilo, home to well-preserved Spanish-era Baroque churches, turn-of-the-century ancestral houses, a rich culinary tradition and the Dinagyang festival, is also fast transforming itself into a business hub with the construction of a convention center and other commercial developments geared towards retail and the IT-BPO industry. 

The local government has also invested heavily in infrastructure, constructing roads, bike lanes, a new airport and power plants to ensure that the province is well-equipped to accommodate its rapid growth.

The Iloilo Appreciation Tour, part of the 2016 Regional Consultation Meeting (RCM) of the DFA Office of European Affairs (OEA), was co-organized by OEA in coordination with the Office of Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, the Department of Tourism, the Office of Iloilo Governor Arthur D. Defensor, Sr., the Office of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick E. Mabilog and the DFA Iloilo Regional Consular Office (RCO). END