CLEARLY MISNOMERED was the recently held 5th North Philippines (Northphil) Travel and Tourism Expo at the SM City Clark.
Spearheaded by the regional offices of the Department of Tourism in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera, and Central Luzon, the Northphil Expo is intended to promote the potentials, as well as the actualities – in travel and tourism, but of course – of the regions covered.
Think Pagudpud and sand dunes, Sagada and rice terraces, Sabtang village and caves, Hundred Islands and surfing Baler, Mount Samat and Capones, Pinatubo and lanterns, fiestas and festivals, all rolled in one place there.
Indeed, the regions had their respective pavilions. So did the provinces of Central Luzon – Aurora’s a cut above the rest, for very good reasons.
“Because of this expo, Aurora became known to many people. There was a 300 percent increase in our tourism rate since we joined it.” So said Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo who has not missed the event since its first edition in 2005. The only Central Luzon governor ever to do so.
The so-called twin engines of development in the region, the Clark and Subic freeports, plus the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport had their showcases too.
Tour and travel agencies, our friends in the Alliance of Tour and Travel Agents of Pampanga and their friends in the Pampanga Agents Travel Society notably, had their own counters for inquiries and bookings. So did the hotels and resorts, Hotel Vida, Holiday Inn and Lewis Grand, and Zoocobia, principally.
The country’s biggest carrier, Cebu Pacific made its uncontested dominance of air traffic at the Expo, marketing maven Blessie Cruz and top PR man Charles Lim ensuring it.
Local products – from the bagnet, longanisa and sukang Iloko of Vigan to the strawberry jams of the Cordilleras, from the peanuts and cashews of Bulacan to the bagoong of Pangasinan, from the handicrafts and furniture of Nueva Ecija and Tarlac to the lanterns of Pampanga – made their strong, and highly profitable, presence at the Expo too.
But a North Philippines exclusive, the Expo clearly was not.
The Western Visayas reception booth highlighting choice destinations in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo and Guimaras Island got its own share of potential tourists.
The island paradise of Boracay, though part of Aklan, had its own separate showcase.
Interested parties did not lack too at the South Central Mindanao booth.
Not only beyond Luzon but even from out of the country did the Northphil Expo draw its participants.
“Discover Sabah” so headlined the booth of the Sabah Tourism Board, manned by no less than its deputy general manager, Gordon Yapp, along with two Kota Kinabalu-based travel agencies.
Theirs was, arguably, the top-draw in inquiries, being always crowded by both locals and foreigners, mostly Caucasians, throughout the three-day affair.
Enjoying the SRO crowd by the Sabah booth was the beaming Tourism Malaysia (Manila offce) marketing executive Beatrice Totanes.
So huge was the turnout for the Northphil Expo – in the number of participants as well as in patronage that DOT Region 3 Director Ronnie Tiotuico could only exclaim: “SM City Clark is running out of space so I think, next year, we will use the vacant lots outside the mall.”
Which almost took Anna Datu, the assistant mall manager, to the paroxysm of ecstasy.
No hyperbole there from Tiotuico, with the ever rising rate of participation, even the parking lots of SM City Clark may have to be utilized in 2011.
The Northphil Expo, one more feather in the cap of Tiotuico, alongside those of the Hot Air Balloon fiesta he pioneered with then Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor, and the Mount Pinatubo trek, both of which were snatched from him once they proved profitable.
No big deal for this silent, uncomplaining, self-effacing, efficient and effective hard worker, so long as the results are there. Take a bow, Ronnie.
Spearheaded by the regional offices of the Department of Tourism in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera, and Central Luzon, the Northphil Expo is intended to promote the potentials, as well as the actualities – in travel and tourism, but of course – of the regions covered.
Think Pagudpud and sand dunes, Sagada and rice terraces, Sabtang village and caves, Hundred Islands and surfing Baler, Mount Samat and Capones, Pinatubo and lanterns, fiestas and festivals, all rolled in one place there.
Indeed, the regions had their respective pavilions. So did the provinces of Central Luzon – Aurora’s a cut above the rest, for very good reasons.
“Because of this expo, Aurora became known to many people. There was a 300 percent increase in our tourism rate since we joined it.” So said Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo who has not missed the event since its first edition in 2005. The only Central Luzon governor ever to do so.
The so-called twin engines of development in the region, the Clark and Subic freeports, plus the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport had their showcases too.
Tour and travel agencies, our friends in the Alliance of Tour and Travel Agents of Pampanga and their friends in the Pampanga Agents Travel Society notably, had their own counters for inquiries and bookings. So did the hotels and resorts, Hotel Vida, Holiday Inn and Lewis Grand, and Zoocobia, principally.
The country’s biggest carrier, Cebu Pacific made its uncontested dominance of air traffic at the Expo, marketing maven Blessie Cruz and top PR man Charles Lim ensuring it.
Local products – from the bagnet, longanisa and sukang Iloko of Vigan to the strawberry jams of the Cordilleras, from the peanuts and cashews of Bulacan to the bagoong of Pangasinan, from the handicrafts and furniture of Nueva Ecija and Tarlac to the lanterns of Pampanga – made their strong, and highly profitable, presence at the Expo too.
But a North Philippines exclusive, the Expo clearly was not.
The Western Visayas reception booth highlighting choice destinations in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo and Guimaras Island got its own share of potential tourists.
The island paradise of Boracay, though part of Aklan, had its own separate showcase.
Interested parties did not lack too at the South Central Mindanao booth.
Not only beyond Luzon but even from out of the country did the Northphil Expo draw its participants.
“Discover Sabah” so headlined the booth of the Sabah Tourism Board, manned by no less than its deputy general manager, Gordon Yapp, along with two Kota Kinabalu-based travel agencies.
Theirs was, arguably, the top-draw in inquiries, being always crowded by both locals and foreigners, mostly Caucasians, throughout the three-day affair.
Enjoying the SRO crowd by the Sabah booth was the beaming Tourism Malaysia (Manila offce) marketing executive Beatrice Totanes.
So huge was the turnout for the Northphil Expo – in the number of participants as well as in patronage that DOT Region 3 Director Ronnie Tiotuico could only exclaim: “SM City Clark is running out of space so I think, next year, we will use the vacant lots outside the mall.”
Which almost took Anna Datu, the assistant mall manager, to the paroxysm of ecstasy.
No hyperbole there from Tiotuico, with the ever rising rate of participation, even the parking lots of SM City Clark may have to be utilized in 2011.
The Northphil Expo, one more feather in the cap of Tiotuico, alongside those of the Hot Air Balloon fiesta he pioneered with then Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor, and the Mount Pinatubo trek, both of which were snatched from him once they proved profitable.
No big deal for this silent, uncomplaining, self-effacing, efficient and effective hard worker, so long as the results are there. Take a bow, Ronnie.
