Philippine Travel Mart in its 20th year

The Philippine Travel Mart is currently ongoing (Sept. 4-6, 2009) at the SM Megatrade Halls, MegaMall in Mandaluyong City.

The event is organized by the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) in cooperation with DOT, PAGCOR and Philippine Airlines.  The Travel Mart is supported by the Department of Tourism, Philippine Tourism Authority, Philippine Gaming Corporation, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Clark Development Corporation, Philippine Airlines, Primer, Chase Technologies, Hop On-Hop Off. Media Partners are Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Travel Update, Foreign Post, Homestyle, Travel Plus, Travelife, Expat Publications, Market Square, GoodNewsPilipinas and ANC.

I paid the regular entrance fee of P50.00 and then went to the Press entrance for the Press kit - as the Batangas Satellite Office Representative of BuyandSell Magazine and the Finders Group (Car Finder, Property Finder, Job Finder, Bike Finder) and of course our very own BPCCI Chonicle.  I also submit event pictures and articles to Batangas local newspapers - which could have saved me the Fifty Pesos entrance fee if I asked sooner.

Batangas Province has a booth in the Philippine Travel Mart where you can have a free taste of  Cafe de Lipa's Kapeng Barako.  Manning the booth was none other than our good friend Teody Aguila of Merlo Commodities.  There are also products handmade by the Batangas City Jail inmates, the products of the SMEs assisted by the Office of the (Batangas) City Veterinarian and Agriculture Services (OCVAS) and other producsts like Bagoong Balayan, Batangas Honey from Lipa City, Atchara from Calaca and other foodstuffs.

Some of our Batangas travel-related companies we saw participating in the exhibit are:  Hotel PonteFino, Hotel La Corona, Atrium Hotel - Microtel Batangas.

The event press release is entitled:  Beyond the usual... experience at the 20th Philippine Travel Mart"
     " A ferry cruise on the Pasig River, a walking culinary tour of Binondo, vegetable picking in an organic farm in Batangas, a bacchanalian feast in Pampanga ... beyond the usual tour and travel packages...

Indeed, the travel organizers are coming up with exciting and out-of-the-usual iteneraries.  I have been receiving regular e-mail messages from the Environmental Leaders which features two-to-three day trekking tours, tree planting tours, learn-scuba-diving packages and even madcap tours for the adventurous - all for just cost-plus.  They designate a meeting place and time for those who booked the tours and voila ! you're on your way with a group of people you're bound-to and will share meals with  for the next 2-3 days.  A good way of finding new friends with the same interests.

What we really need in Batangas are regular land tours which we can offer to the travel agencies, resort visitors and hotel guests in packages.  Something like:  Diving Lessons Saturdays, Heritage Tour Mondays, Religious Tours Tuesdays, Industrial Plants Wednesdays, Volcano Trekking Thursdays,  where the tour leaves at a specified time and place on a permanent basis, whether there are 50 bookings, 10 or none at all. 

But then again, this project does not seem a highly profitable venture for a businessman.  With all the hassles the businessmen have been getting with registering companies, complying with regulations and the amount of taxes they have to pay - it is no wonder for the higly skilled and talented Batanguenos to just go work abroad and for those left behind to just sit on their verandahs and terraces "kukuya-kuyakoy" and wait for remittances.