The Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) 2023, organized by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, yielded over 296 Million Philippine Pesos in negotiated sales during its two-day table top meetings between international buyers and native stakeholders last September 20-21 on the Fili-NuStar Hotel, Cebu.
Showcasing the Philippines’ finest tourism attractions, establishments, services, and products to a worldwide audience, PHITEX 2023 brought together a complete of 164 seller delegates from 119 Philippine firms and 88 buyers from 19 countries world wide for the travel exchange event graced by Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and TPB Chief Operating Officer Marga Nograles.
Yielding PHP 55,171,600 on Day 1 and PHP 232,964,100 on Day 2, this 12 months’s edition of PHITEX generated a grand total of PHP 296,213,032 in projected income including proceeds from sponsorship and participation fees.
Secretary Frasco, the keynote speaker of the event, thanked your entire delegation. “Our gratitude goes to you on your continued belief within the potential of Philippine tourism and your love for the Philippines.”
Frasco further emphasized the country’s success in tourism recovery, citing the arrival record of over 3.8 million international visitors as of September 19, 2023 and over PHP 316.9 billion in estimated revenue. Noting that PHITEX was inclusive of international buyers, she expressed in her speech what makes the Philippines different as a destination: “The inclusivity of this program beckons international buyers to explore the wealthy diversity that our country has to supply. But what truly sets us apart as a tourism destination is not any apart from the very best asset of Philippine tourism—the Filipino people.”
This 12 months, PHITEX embraced the theme, “Tourism Sustainability within the Era of Web of Things (IoT),” putting a highlight on the country’s digitalization and sustainability efforts to fulfill global demands. COO Nograles, in her opening remarks, emphasized the necessity to transcend business transactions and highlighted TPB’s efforts to rearrange post-tours involving visits to diverse community-based tourist sites that may introduce participating international buyers to grassroots initiatives together with local textiles, culinary treasures, and other eco-tourism activities.
“Amid this transformative surge, the tourism industry have to be poised for motion. We must not only embrace this digital evolution but additionally guide the best way, ensuring that tradition coexists harmoniously with modernization,” Nograles said consistent with the expanding IoT that’s redefining the entire industry and the tourist experience.
Other than B2B, PHITEX also functions as an progressive knowledge-sharing platform to local stakeholders and academia members in the sector of tourism through its Philippine Educational Program (PEP) Talk. This 12 months’s installment, held at Jpark Island Resort and Waterpark in Lapu-Lapu City, covered the newest advancements in IoT, data privacy, and circular economies with speakers resembling Maria Raisa Ysaac-Orbon, Chief Marketing Officer of Packetworx Inc.; Maricel Gatchalian-Badilla, PhD., Associate Professor of UP Asian Institute of Tourism; Atty. Francis Euston R. Acero, Vice President and Data Privacy Officer of Meralco; Barry Lim, Senior Director, Public Sector &; Government Practice, Frost and Sullivan-Singapore; and Geoff Andres, Property President of the City of Dreams Manila, generously providing their expertise, competencies, and knowledge consistent with essentially the most current tourism trends and sustainability initiatives that could be effectively implemented within the digital era. Promoting gender equality, empowerment and inclusivity was also discussed by Dawn Mendoza, Program Manager of the Philippine Financial &; Inter-Industry Pride, in her talk on Exploring Gender Dynamics in Tourism.
The PHITEX 2023 event was organized in collaboration with NUSTAR Resort Cebu, Fili Hotel – NUSTAR Cebu, Destileria Limtuaco & Co. Inc., Uni-Orient Travel, Inc, The Muse Hotel Boracay, Wine Club and Charlton Trade, Cebu Pacific, 2GO, and Bigseed Public Relations and Events.
To commemorate the occasion, in-kind donations were provided by Engkanto, Angkas, and Barcino. Moreover, the guests got quite a lot of giveaways and tokens of appreciation from Sunnies Studios, Klook, and Bench.
PHITEX 2023 was also supported by the Department of Tourism Region VII, Office of the Provincial Governor of Cebu, and the local government units (LGUs) of Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Carcar City, Argao, and Talisay.
For more details about PHITEX, visit https://www.phitex.ph/.
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Read: PHITEX Shines Highlight on IoT in 2023 Cebu Edition
