The longest-running interactive tourism expo is back with new offerings.
With the tourism industry gaining strength after lockdowns brought about by the pandemic, the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) announces the return of the Philippine Travel Mart (PTM) for its 33rd year happening from September 30 to October 2, 2022 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, SM Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.
While the country is ripe for “revenge travel”, this year’s PTM theme is “Safe Travels” to address a safer and more relaxed environment that awaits eager travelers looking for memorable adventures. For the record, at least 70 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated and tourism outlets are prepared to welcome foreign and local tourists.
“It is with great joy and excitement that we invite everyone to the biggest Philippine Travel Mart to date. We’ve been waiting for a long time and now is the perfect time to travel again, support local businesses, and explore the Philippines and beyond,” shares PHILTOA President Fe Abling-Yu.
What to expect
The three-day travel expo will feature over 200 exhibitions from local and international participants showcasing exclusive domestic and international travel packages. With sustainable tourism and community engagement in mind, the PTM only partners with reputable agencies and businesses.
Every year it is part of the expo’s mission to highlight new discoveries for travelers to explore, while also showcasing the best islands in the archipelago: from award-winning islands recognized around the world to cultural hotspots to experience the rich and vivid history and culture of Filipinos.
The expo layout showcases colored zones to identify each tourism product: Yellow Zone for MICE and Entertainment; Blue Zone for Beach, Cruise, and Marine Sports; Green Zone for Cultural and Agro/Farm/Eco-Tourism; and Pink Zone for Health, Wellness, and Culinary. Each zone is filled with information and offers from duly accredited tour and travel agencies, hotels and resorts, theme parks, airlines, as well as provincial and regional agencies.
“There are so many reasons to explore the Philippines and our ASEAN neighbors. We hope visitors will find amazing deals at PTM, as well as gain more knowledge about our own country. We have interactive booths highlighting Philippine regions and the biggest among them will be the Mindanao exhibition,” says Abling-Yu.
More packages in must-visit Asian destinations like Japan, China, and South Korea are also available at the expo.
Taking the expo to more high-tech and convenient heights, visitors can scan the QR codes of exhibitors to find their locations as well as conduct paperless transactions.
More tourism products from DOT
In her keynote speech, Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco emphasized her development plans for tourism products.
“The DoT is working on developing new regional tourism surveys that will highlight nature based tourism, MICE tourism, food and gastronomy, our heritage and culture, health and wellness, the arts and more. All these tourism dimensions will get equal promotion, attention and support as we expand ourselves from the traditional portfolio and go into multi-dimensional tourism,” she said.
To fortify DOT development plans, Sec. Frasco has enjoined Congress to triple the tourism budget.
The 33rd PTM is travel fair is co-presented by the Department of Tourism and the Tourism Promotions Board and supported by Diamond sponsor Bank of the Philippine Islands, Silver sponsor AirAsia, and Bronze sponsor Cebu Pacific.
For more information about PTM, visit www.philtravelmart.com , contact the PHILTOA Secretariat at (632) 8812-4513, 8822-6964, or email philtravelmart@philtoa.com.