TPB Gears Up for Global competitiveness

To achieve its global competitiveness goal and attract more travelers, visitors, and investors, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), is conducting a series of Tourism Marketing Educational Seminars among participants from DOT Regional Offices and local government units (LGUs), which kicked off in Batangas City this June, and will go to Cebu and Butuan in August.

The seminars will focus on skills training and upgrading competency level through workshops, case studies and collaborative research projects. This intends to boost employment rate, improve income opportunities and subsequently increase tourism arrivals and receipts.

Moreover, the seminar-workshop is expected to empower LGU’s tourism officers with greater knowledge to initiate and oversee successful tourism marketing strategies that can significantly contribute to the country’s economic and social development.

TPB will also discuss relevant issues affecting the tourism industry that may impact the market and provide opportunity to enhance performance and decision-making skills.

The seminars, which anticipates approximately 60 participants per run, is part of TPB's initiative to support the National Tourism Develop
ment Plan (NTDP) 2016-2022,aiming to build and upscale the implementation of tourism programs to deliver a more competitive, sustainable and inclusive tourism sector.

Full Speed Ahead for PH Tourism with the Philippine Business Mission to Japan

As part of the invigorated thrust to attract bigger tourist arrivals from Japan, the Philippines recently once again concluded a series of successful Philippine Business Mission (PBM) in Sapporo, Nagoya and Tokyo. Japan ranks 4th in terms of tourist arrivals, with a growth rate of 8.15% or a total of 631,801 Japanese visitors in 2018, compared to 581,180 arrivals in 2017.

The PBM continues to be one of the most important annual projects of the Department of Tourism (DOT) through the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines. It provides the ideal business platform for suppliers of Philippine tourism products—hotels and resorts, tour operators and airlines—in the process of expanding trade relations with their Japanese counterparts while establishing new contacts in the travel trade industry in Japan.

Major components for this year’s PBM were: a Philippine Seminar that provided a comprehensive report on important Philippine travel and tourism developments; Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings wherein DOT Tokyo and DOT Osaka had a total of 400 industry players for one-on-one business discussions with Japanese travel trade and Philippines sellers; and a Philippine Reception that served as a venue for further business networking, in recognition of the strong ties between the Philippines and Japan.