24 March 2014 – The Philippine booth received a lot of attention in Portugal´s biggest tourism fair, Bolsa de Turismo de Lisboa – BTL 2014 which was held from March 12 to 16 at the Feira Industrial de Lisboa located in Parque das Naçoes in Lisbon. The annual tourism fair now on its 26th year was participated in by Portugal´s national and regional tourism boards, airline companies, hotels and resorts, tour operators, travel agencies and other members of the tourism industry. As in the previous years, a number of foreign embassies participated in the tourism event and put up their respective booths.
The Philippine booth attracted a lot of curious visitors mostly regulars of the tourism fair who were pleased to see the Philippines participating for the first time. Embassy personnel handed out brochures featuring tourist destinations in the Philippines and other information materials provided by the Department of Tourism to promote the “It´s More Fun in the Philippines” experience. The Philippine Embassy also took advantage of its participation in the BTL to connect with local tour operators and discuss possible collaboration on how to further promote travel to the Philippines.
The International Tourism Fair of Lisbon provided benchmarking with other tourism destinations, promoted the exchange of ideas and experiences by travel agencies and among professionals, and presented the latest news and developments in the tourism sector. This annual event also brought together international exhibitors and participants from the
global tourism industry.
In addition to the exhibitors from countries around the world, the BTL 2014 also presented upcoming tourist destinations, food tasting, and cultural presentations. For the Philippines, this event served as an important opportunity to promote its tourist destinations not only to the Portuguese public but also to the international community who are regular visitors to the annual BTL event. END