THE flourishing tourism industry of Negros Occidental gained a boost in the three-day 29th Philippine Travel Mart held at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
Provincial Supervising Tourism Operations Officer Cristine Mansinares said Monday, September 3, that Negros Occidental was able to promote its bird watching package in the annual fair that enabled provinces to showcase new tourism products on top of their usual offerings.
The bird watching package in the province covers visits in bird watching areas, forests and wetlands like the Gawahon Eco Park in Victorias City, Mambukal Mountain Resort in Murcia, and Barangay Tibsoc in San Enrique.
“Our participation in this year’s Philippine Travel Mart has positively contributed to increase more awareness on the new products that we can offer to the guests apart from the usual ones,” Mansinares said.
Among the “regular” tourism packages of the province that were also showcased during the travel fair are the Bacolod-Silay-Talisay cultural tour, and the beach and diving packages in Sipalay City, Danjugan Island in Cauayan town, and Lakawon Island in Cadiz City.
The Negros Occidental Tourism Division also promoted Mambukal Mountain Resort for health and wellness, Campuestohan Highland Resort in Talisay City for day trip, and various food offerings for culinary package.
To encourage more visitors on the upcoming MassKara Festival in Bacolod City next month, the team also distributed flyers and catered inquiries of the guests about the highly-anticipated festivity.
The Negros Occidental booth, through various partners, also catered to queries of family-guests looking at the province as their possible destination for weekend gateway or vacation.
Representatives from L’Fisher Hotel, Southwest Travel and Tours, and two other tour operators from Bacolod City accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) were also brought to the travel fair.
Mansinares also mentioned that Punta Bulata Resort and Spa also had a separate booth.
She said the fair opened a future partnership with the University of the Philippines–Diliman, which proposed to conduct educational trips in Negros Occidental and study about the province’s tourism.
“Also, we were able to strengthen our linkages with other provinces. We were able to meet new tourism officers of other local government units as well as travel agents,” she said.