The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), made significant strides in advancing Philippine tourism on a global scale in 2023.
Generating over 6 Billion Pesos in negotiated sales leads, TPB organized and participated in various trade and consumer events in the Philippines and across the globe. These showcased the Philippines as a world-class tourism and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions (MICE) destination to contribute to a total of 5.45 million tourist arrivals, which is a 105.6% increase from 2022.
The agency saw an unprecedented increase in negotiated sales specifically in their signature events like the Regional Travel Fairs ( RTF) in Cebu and Ilocos, garnering over PHP 518 million and PHP 489 million in sales, respectively. TPB also successfully brought in over PHP 346 million in negotiated sales for the country when it gathered 164 seller delegates from 119 Philippine companies and 88 buyers from 19 countries for the Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) in Cebu.
Internationally, the show that generated the most sales leads is Arabian Travel Mart, which generated as much as PHP 1.1 billion. Meanwhile, our hosting of the Connections Luxury Wellbeing resulted in PHP 617 million in sales leads, while the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association Show in New Orleans, USA brought in PHP 306 million.
In alignment with the DOT’s seven-point agenda, the TPB endeavored to implement projects across the 17 regions, from media partnerships, familiarization tours, learning and development programs, social media promotions, and events hosting. These include TPB’s community-based tourism workshops that were held in CAR, Region 1, Region 4A, Region 6, Region 11, and Region 12, allowing local community members to learn new skills in packaging design, digital marketing, social media management, content creation, and product branding. Tourism Marketing Educational Seminars were also conducted in Region 1, Region 2, Region 7, Region 8, and Region 10 to update tourism and marketing officers regarding tourism trends, best practices, and new marketing approaches.
The agency also launched several initiatives that encouraged groups to explore the Philippines. TPB implemented Philippine Motorcycle Tourism projects across Regions 1, 3, 6, and NCR, engaging various motorcycle riders in exploring local destinations through group rides. Meanwhile, the agency developed 360° VR Experiential Tours for Regions 6, 7, 11,13, and BARMM to give tourists a glimpse of the stunning destinations that they can visit in these areas. Tours were also conducted in Region 4B for tourism stakeholders who attended PHITEX, while the Domestic Tourism Invitational Program was held in Region 5 and the Tour Association Summit was done in Region 9.
As part of its commitment to sustainability, the agency also carried out Corporate Social Responsibility projects throughout 2023. Employees of TPB were able to learn about native trees in La Mesa Nature Reserve and plant seedlings at the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. Additionally, tourism enterprises that are part of the TPB Membership Program went to Zambales to participate in reforestation and beach clean-up activities to increase their awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism.
The agency’s efforts bore fruit as it received numerous awards in 2023, including the Most Improved Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) by the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) during the Governance Awards Ceremony; National Tourism Initiative of the Year by the Gov Media Awards in Singapore, in recognition of its conduct of the 2022 PHITEX; and Best National Tourism Organization by the readers of TTG Asia Media. Furthermore, TPB was recognized as the Sustainability Leader of the Year in Asia at the prestigious TripZilla Excellence Awards 2023.