DOT 7 goes on sales mission-A A +A
Sunday, July 15, 2012
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 will be promoting Cebu City as a leisure, shopping and Mice (meetings, incentives, convention, exhibitions/expositions) destination during its Cebu sales mission to Singapore and Malaysia this week.
DOT 7 said in a press statement the Cebu Sales Mission is part of the department’s drive to achieve the target of 10 million tourists by 2016.
The Cebu Sales Mission to Singapore and Malaysia will run from July 15 to 19.
“This is the first time that DOT 7 is organizing a sales mission outside the country,” said DOT 7 director Rowena Lu Montecillo. “We chose Singapore and Malaysia due to its proximity to Cebu, not to mention the increasing number of flights between the Philippines and these two countries.”
According to Montecillo, Singapore and Malaysia are two of the biggest tourism and travel markets in the Asean region. “With the reasonable-cost carriers making travel between the Philippines and our Asean neighbors more affordable and easy, it is high time we made an aggressive selling of Cebu to Singapore and Malaysia,” she said.
In the sales mission, Cebu will be promoted as leisure, shopping and Mice destination.
Montecillo said Cebu’s proximity to these countries makes it an ideal destination for short holidays, vacations and Mice gatherings.
“Cebu already has three direct flights to and from Singapore. This just shows that there is that much confidence in our capacity as a destination. And with the coming in of AirAsia and Air Philippines having direct flights to Malaysia already, we are also hoping that in the near future, direct flights from Cebu to Malaysia would be reinstated,” she said.
Arrivals from Malaysia grew by 29.73 percent or 1,379 from January-April, with Cebu getting 1,098. Arrivals from Singapore grew by 31.76 percent to 4,929 in the first four months of the year, with Cebu recording 4,042 tourists.
Among the activities during the sales mission are product presentations about Cebu and a travel exchange where Cebu stakeholders will have a chance to interact and conduct business meetings with their Malaysian and Singaporean counterparts.
Aside from the Cebu Sales Mission, DOT 7 also said they will participate in the Philippine Tourism Fair 2012, which is organized by DOT’s Team Asia-Pacific Marketing Team.
This three-day consumer fair will allow Philippine tourism stakeholders, including several from Cebu, to interact directly with Malaysian consumers as the event will be held in one of Malaysia’s biggest shopping and commercial complex.
Among the participating tourism establishments are Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, Plantation Bay Resort & Spa, Bluewater Resorts, Costabella Tropical Beach Hotel, Harolds Hotel, San Remigio Beach Club, Destination Specialists Cebu, Southwind Travel & Tours, Travelite Travel & Tours, Divaishnavi Travel & Tours, ESR Travel & Tours and iTravel iExplore Tour and Travel Services.
The Cebu Sales Mission to Singapore and Malaysia is supported by the Cebu City Government, Profoods International Corp. and Cebu Pacific Air.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on July 16, 2012.