Philippines Hosts Mega International Travel Event PHITEX2018 With Eye On Middle East Travellers

The Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) 2018, the Philippines’ largest government-sponsored travel industry  event, was recently held in Manila from 29^th August to 4^th of September 2018 at the Marriott Hotel in Metro Manila, where 250 travel agents and industry professionals from around the world were hosted for a series of one to one business development meetings with the Philippines’ leading hotels, tour providers and tourism leaders, to further increase awareness and the appeal of the Philippines as an ideal holiday and business incentive destination. With the Gulf Countries highlighted as a key emerging outbound market by the Philippines Department of Tourism, a total of 12 outbound tour operators from the region attended the event including four representatives from Bahrain, four from the UAE, two from Saudi Arabia, one from Oman and one from Qatar.

As an annual event first launched in 1996, the 2018 edition of PHITEX PHITEX marked the 17^th anniversary of the gathering and was spearheaded with the topic: “Tourism is our Business; Guarding our Environment, Reliving Our Culture.” thereby highlighting the importance of conserving natural resources through tourism and bringing culture to the forefront of exploration as a paramount strategic goal for the country’s future tourism success.

In addition to a full schedule of planned meetings, the invited delegates were also provided opportunities to experience first-hand the best that the Philippines has to offer through organised tours to various regions around the country.

Says Dakila Gonzales, Head of Product and Marketing Development – Middle East, Philippines Department of Tourism: “The Middle East is a key strategic market for Philippines inbound travel that is well serviced by a number of direct flights. Through this initiative and our ongoing promotional efforts in the region, we expect a greater number of Middle Eastern tour operators to produce new and exciting tailored packages and itineraries for their clients that highlight the Philippines uniqueness as a destination to provide quality, value for money experiences, all with the fun and genuine hospitality that Filipinos are famous for.”

The Philippines Department of Tourism (PDOT) is proactively promoting and positioning the Philippines within the G.C.C. as a destination for value, new experiences and fun, especially for families, young professionals, luxury travel experience seekers, adventure seekers and those seeking culinary delights and opportunities to come into contact with Filipino talent, whether it be through up and coming cutting-edge design, fashion, jewellery design or traditional crafts.

With G.C.C. nationals and many other nationalities provided with visa on arrival, business incentive groups, medical and wellness tourism segments are also being proactively explored.

From the Gulf Countries, the largest numbers of visitors to date come from Saudi Arabia, however visitors from other countries such as the UAE are increasing steadily. Based on the latest statistics available, visitors from the Middle East to the Philippines between the period of January through to May 2018 reached 37,126. 7,579 of those visitors were from the UAE, which saw an increase of 11.03% in visitor numbers compared to the same period in 2017.