THE City of Bacolod is hosting the international delegates of the Philippine Travel Exchange (Phitex) 2018 for their post-event tour on September 2 to 4.
Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia will deliver his message at the welcome dinner for Phitex delegates at the Government Center lobby on Monday, September 3, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Councilor Em Ang, chair of the Provincial Council committee on tourism, said delegates from United Kingdom (UK), Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Malaysia, China, India, Korea, Japan, Russia, Norway, Netherlands, and Vietnam will visit Bacolod for the Phitex event, which is a culinary, pilgrimage, and heritage tour.
Leonardia said: “We are excited that the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) has selected Bacolod City to be one of the 10 destinations to be visited by the international delegates of Phitex 2018 for their pre and post-event tours.”
Ang said that following the intense business-to-business (B2B) sessions that brought over 200 international buyers to meet with local sellers at the Marriot Manila last August 28 to 30, TPB is set to impress the international participants further with post-event tours in pre-selected destinations that also include Bicol, Davao, Palawan, Dumaguete, Siquijor, Sumilon, and Ilocos Norte from August 31 to September 4.
“These tours are targeted to let them experience why it’s more fun in the Philippines, and encourage them to include these destinations in their travel and tour packages being sold at their respective market coverage,” Ang added.
Leonardia said, “What this means for us is that it validates Bacolod's position as an increasingly popular Mice (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions) destination, and it will also surely bring more tourists to our city and province as we highlight culture and heritage, food tourism, farm tourism and wellness, among others. Definitely, it will result to remarkable cultural and economic benefits for our city.”
The 2017 MassKara Festival street dance champion, and the 2017 BacoLaodiat Festival lantern dance champion will perform at the welcome dinner.
Now on its 17th edition, Phitex is the country's biggest travel trade event hosted by the TPB.
With this year's theme "Tourism is our Business: Guarding our Environment, Reliving our Culture," the TPB aims to provide a venue for foreign buyers of travel products to discuss business with Philippine tourism suppliers with a possibility of securing booking on-site and business leads, Ang added. (PR)