Travel expo posts 86% increase in visitors
The Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) yesterday said the latest edition of the annual Travel Tour Expo (TTE) posted a record number of visitors during its three-day run last month at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
Jose Clemente III, TTE chairman and former PTAA president, said more than 110,000 visitors went to the seventeenth edition of the expo representing a huge 86.44 percent jump from 2009.
"We were very much overwhelmed by the public response to this year’s Travel Tour Expo. The turnout at the expo is very much indicative that Philippine tourism has now turned a corner and is now ready to surge," Clemente said.
He added: "The PTAA is very much thankful to all the companies that participated in the expo for offering travel packages and services at highly discounted rates. It showed that people will travel and complete plans for the remainder of the year if given the right incentives."
This year’s expo was participated by 230 travel and tourism companies which offered anywhere between 30 to 70 percent discounts on their products and services.
The list of companies included international and domestic airlines, cruise operators, tourism agencies, hotels and resorts, tour operators, educational institutions, lifestyle companies, global distribution system providers, insurance companies, theme parks, and food companies.
Even as the PTAA is still awaiting other data from the expo, Clemente said it might be safe to assume that all the companies combined to have possibly posted a 20 percent increase in sales generated.
"With the crowd that we had, there are records that will definitely be broken," Clemente said.
Last year, combined sales by the 215 participating companies increased by 37 percent to P216.26 million.
Clemente said the PTAA will put into serious consideration the enormous success of the TTE this year in its decision to further expand the expo next year.
The TTE this year, dubbed "Ready, Jet Set, Go!", again occupied three halls of the SMX with a combined floor space of 6,380 square meters.
The annual event is considered as the biggest travel and tourism event in the country.