Philippines WOWed visitors at the World Travel Market 2007

The Philippines showcased another successful event this year at the World Travel Market in London 's ExCel exhibition center at the Docklands, from 12 to 15 November.

The WTM, staged yearly in London , is one of the world's biggest and most important business events. It provides a unique opportunity for people and companies in the travel trade and tourism industry to meet, network, negotiate, conduct business and stay abreast with the latest developments in this global business.

Over the years, participation in the WTM in London has been a major activity for the Philippine Department of Tourism-particularly for the PDOT office in London now headed by tourism attaché Domingo Ramon Enero III, assisted by a hard-working and dedicated staff.

With the full support of the Department of Tourism under the leadership of the current Tourism Secretary, Joseph Ace Durano, PDOT London has launched several initiatives and campaigns not only in the United Kingdom and in Ireland but in other parts of Europe as well, showcasing the much-vaunted ‘Wonders of the Philippines'-the main thrust of the country's tourism campaign.

The country's participation in the WTM, in which more than 200 countries participated this year for their optimum share of the world's tourist traffic, was deemed crucial to the Philippines ' drive towards economic development, due to the revenues and jobs generated by the influx of foreign travelers as well as investors in the local tourism industry.

Global competition in the tourism and travel industry has become keener than ever, and the Philippines has been gearing up to be at the cutting edge of competition, at least in Asia and Southeast Asia . By participating in the annual WTM, the Philippines has been successful in creating visibility for its tourism offerings in the travel trade media, encouraging tour operators and organizers to include the Philippines in their brochures, networking with existing buyers and sustaining their continued support, and keeping abreast with the latest travel trends, technology, and the state of the competition.

In the UK itself, the Philippine tourism office under tourism attaché Domingo Ramon Enerio III has boldly undertaken initiatives further increasing public awareness of the wealth of wonders that the Philippines has to offer.

The end result, as the latest figures will show, has been an impressive increase in tourist arrivals in the Philippines from the UK , Ireland and other European countries.

The Philippine delegation at this year's WTM in London was headed by the Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Edgardo B. Espiritu and the Honorable Ramon ‘Red' L. Durano Vl, Congressman from the 5th District of Cebu. The Philippine Department of Tourism was represented by tourism attaché Domingo Ramon Enerio III and his London staff, and a contingent from the DOT home office led by Ms. Verna Esmeralda C. Buensuceso, Head of Team Europe.

Philippine tourism industry partners-tour operators, hotels and resorts, airlines-were also part of the delegation, with representatives from Annset Holidays Inc., Baron Travel Corp., Blue Horizons Travel & Tours, Intas Destination Management Inc., TRIPS Travel, Rajah Tours Philippines, Inc., The Ananyana Beach Resort & Spa, Dos Palmas Island Resort & Spa, El Nido Resorts, Eskaya Beach Resort & Spa, Casa Amorita, Shangri-la Hotels & Resorts, Marco Vincent Dive Resort, Mandala Spa Boracay, and Philippine Airlines.

Philippine media were ably represented by journalists from Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard Today, Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the TV program Travel Time.

The program of activities for the Philippine participation at the WTM started on 12 November with the delegation's departure from the Holiday Inn Hotel in Gloucester Road aboard the classic London Routemaster double-decker bus serving as a promotional vehicle advertising WOW PHILIPPINES on its side panels. It went around the streets of the City of London passing through notable landmarks such as Big Ben, Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square enroute to ExCel. This was the major highlight in the morning, which created a huge impact and proved to be a successful crowd drawer for the opening of the WTM.

The whole of the Philippine delegation including DOT Manila , private sector delegates and media were on board, along with close partners of the PDOT from the UK travel trade and British media, and officers of the Philippine Embassy.

At the well-appointed and ingeniously designed Philippine pavilion, there will be media interviews and videography with Congressman Durano, Ambassador Espiritu, DOT officials, and private sector representatives. This will be followed by a Philippine reception from 5:00 to 7:30 pm, with "BURI HAT KARAOKE NIGHT" as the theme. PDOT showcased the best of Philippine music by inviting UK and Irish tour operators and travel agents for the karaoke competition. Raffled off as prizes were be three Magic Sing microphones. Filipino cocktails were also be served, featuring the international medal-winning Tanduay Rhum from the Philippines .

Huge interest was generated from travel trade practitioners coming from everywhere across the globe wanting to initiate partnerships with our tour operators and hotels and resorts to visitors astonished by the 160-sq.m Philippine stand. The exhibit had a simple but elegant structure topped by a beach hut, with colorful and festive kiping rice wafers hanging all over the space, while large-format bright posters surround the main structure, showing irresistible adventure destinations, biodiversity treasures, and world heritage sites in the Philippines. There was even publicity generated from the Euronews channel last 14 November during its WTM feature, which highlighted the Philippine stand for an astounding 25 minutes.