DOT London Promotes PH Tourism in Portugal
From left: First Secretary and Consul Reginald S. Bernabe of the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon, Philippine Ambassador to Portugal Celia Anna M. Feria (center), with Tourism Attaché to the United Kingdom and Director for Northern and Southern Europe of Department of Tourism (DOT) London Office. (Lisbon PE photo)
LISBON 03 February 2020 – After the successful participation of the Philippine Department of Tourism at the 40th edition of the Feria Internacional de Turismo (FITUR) from 22 to 26 January in Madrid, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) in London conducted another successful sales mission event for the Portuguese travel agents and tour operators on 27 January 2020 at the Altis Grand Hotel in Lisbon.
These sales missions aim to further promote the Philippines as a travel destination for the Portuguese market, and facilitate the development of linkages between the Portuguese travel agencies and Philippine tour operators.
The sales mission event involved travel trade, country presentations and business-to-business (B2B) meetings between the Philippines and Portugal tourism industry stakeholders. Representatives from Philippine Destination Management Companies (DMCs) who formed part of the Philippine delegation were Annset Holidays Inc., Blue Horizons, Intas Destinations, Rajah Tours Philippines, Travel Experts Inc., and Travel Lite Travel and Tours.
The program started with the welcome remarks by Tourism Attaché to the United Kingdom and Director for Northern and Southern Europe of DOT London Gerard O. Panga.
In her welcome remarks at dinner, Philippine Ambassador to Portugal Celia Anna M. Feria thanked the Portuguese travel operators for their keen interest in promoting the Philippines as a new and exciting destination to their clients. “There are more Portuguese visiting and doing business in the Philippine not only because of the beauty of the Philippines but of the various business opportunities present in the country,” Ambassador Feria said. A series of cultural folk dances were also presented by Lahing Kayumanggi Dance Company as well as a flair bartender show by Filipino bartender Mr. Dennis Barela, the world’s third best flair bartender.
Based on recent statistics from the DOT, there has been a significant growth in the arrival of Portuguese tourists in the Philippines. Tourist arrivals from Portugal have more than tripled from 2014 to 2018. In 2018, there were 5,549 Portuguese arrivals in the Philippines showing a 32.47 percent increase in tourist arrival from the previous year. In terms of percentage growth, tourist arrivals have been increasing annually by more than 30 percent in the past three years.
The DOT delegation then proceeded to Milan, Italy for the last part of its Post-FITUR Sales Mission. It is hoped that these sales missions will heighten awareness of the Philippines’ various tourism destinations and diverse tourism products that will eventually position the country as a must-see destination in the Southeast Asian region.
This is the third year in a row that DOT has conducted its sales mission to Portugal. In previous years, the DOT mission also presented to a similar group in the city of Porto, aside from Lisbon. END
Tourism Attaché Gerard O. Panga of Department of Trade (DOT) London welcomes Portuguese travel operators to the Philippine tourism sales mission event at Altis Grand hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. (Lisbon PE photo)
Front row, from left: Cultural Attaché Michelle Kathleen S. Reyes and Third Secretary and Vice-Consul Maria Flordeliza A. Tuiza of the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon with Portuguese tourism operators at the Department of Trade (DOT) London sales mission event. (Libson PE photo)
As part of the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) tourism promotion, various Philippine cultural dances were presented to show the rich and vibrant cultural diversity of the Philippines. (Lisbon PE photo)
Filipino Flair Bartender Dennis Barela entertains the crowd with various flair bartending stunts during the Department of Tourism (DOT) Sales Mission event in Lisbon, Portugal. (Lisbon PE photo)
For more information, visit https://www.lisbonpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinPortugal/.