Coming up with more reasons to love the Philippines
Before the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) of the Philippines, headed by chief operating officer Marga Nograles, hit the ground running at the Asean Tourism Forum in Vientiane, Laos, they first started the year showing appreciation to partners and stakeholders at the “Pasasalamat” event at One Bonifacio High Street Mall in Taguig City.
Guests were treated to a 360-degree immersive exhibit showcasing delightful places and cultures around the Philippines as Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco lauded Nograles for rising to the call for “nothing less than excellence.”
According to her, the TPB chief has worked her way toward making Filipino culture and artistry mainstream while also giving opportunities to many of our local artisan communities across the country.
Nograles said community-based tourism programs that highlight the beauty of indigenous communities and help preserve our heritage are at the forefront of TPB’s campaign.
“We help curate experiences that will allow our tourists to learn about our living traditions and our colorful cultural heritage,” she said.
She was also looking forward to expanding the Philippine Motorcycle Tourism program by featuring even more provinces than the featured circuits in 12 regions last year.
While Philippine tourism still has yet to go back to prepandemic levels, the sector has still managed to exceed its 2023 targets, including visitor arrivals and downloads of the enhanced Travel Philippines mobile app.
Exceeding targets
“Overall, we had a great year of exceeding targets and developing amazing programs that ensure the promotion of the Philippines as a leading leisure, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and investment destination,” said Nograles. “The keys to any successful endeavor are strong partnerships and collaboration. We hope that we can continue to count on your support as we promote our beautiful country together.”
While 2023 had been a busy year for Philippine tourism, Garcia-Frasco said it is now entering a new chapter since its inception 50 years ago.
The good news is that the Philippines continues to be a well-loved destination for our travelers, she said, with the country having been recognized as the world’s leading beach destination, the world’s leading dive destination and Asia’s best cruise destination.
Still, “We’re aiming to enhance the tourist experience across the country” through infrastructure, connectivity and digitalization, accompanied by the equalization of tourism promotion and development, she added.
In line with this, efforts to address the no. 1 concern of tourists going around the country continue by constructing tourist rest areas that feature comfortable information centers, lounges, pasalubong centers and clean and decent restrooms. Tourist first aid centers are also being built in densely populated beach and mountain destinations.
“All of these efforts are geared toward ensuring that, as we aggressively engage in tourism promotion, we also focus on product development,” Garcia-Frasco added. “Our interest is not only to influence our tourists to come to the Philippines, but rather for them to enjoy their experience and to come back again and again.”
