PTAA upbeat about travel, goes cruising

An upbeat Ricky V. Ordoñez, president of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), called on its membership to be optimistic about domestic tourism and keep working on home front basics to perk up the industry.

Ordoñez spoke at the PTAA 8th general membership meeting last week at the Luzon Ballroom of the Westin Philippine Plaza at the Cultural Center Complex in Pasay City. The 3rd PTAA Cruisemart reeled off at the meeting, showcasing various local and foreign destinations with attractively quoted tour packages to drum up cruising.

Ordoñez, outgoing PTAA president, challenged his colleagues to look beyond the series of crises that almost knocked down businesses around the world, especially the travel and tourism sector, and hone the basics of the trade to survive.

While pitching for domestic tourism, Ordoñez also talked about the growing preference for cruising as an alternative style of travel. Despite the dash of political and economic tight spots here and abroad, he said there is an overwhelming interest in cruising, especially in the Philippines.

Among the 3rd PTAA Cruisemart participants were Coco Explorer, Cruise Island Adventure & Scuba World, Great Ship Adventure Cruises, Inc., Princess Cruises, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Silver Sea Cruises, Star Cruises, Negros Navigation and WG&A Superferry.

The participants entertained prospective clients about the season’s most saleable packages and destinations. They also distributed flyers, brochures and glossy magazines to entice future travelers in particular. Schedules of lined-up trips were also disseminated to update seasoned cruisers on their latest offerings.

Local cruise packages include some of the country’s most raved about attractions such as pristine Boracay, awesome Palawan, exotic Davao, sunny Cebu, tropical Camiguin/Cagayan, and rustic Bohol. Cruise packages of three days-two nights start from R6,000-R10,000, depending on the type of on-board accommodation. It includes airfare, land transfers and meals.

Foreign cruise package samplers include seven nights Mexican Riviera, seven nights Mediterranean, 11 nights Alaskan coastal cruise, 14nights Scandinavia & Russia cruise, with cruise only packages (excluding airfare and other incidental expenses such as port charges and airport taxes), ranging from US$800-$1,800, among others.

With 21 years of service to the association and his sharpened trade acumen, Ordoñez appeared to have moved everyone to be innovative and to beef up the home front to effectively deal with any negative blows that may further upset the already hurting industry.

Ordoñez also pulled off the members’ confidence about the future of travel, both here and abroad. Whether the agents sell local or foreign travel packages, at the end of the day the more imaginative ones usually get the plum, he said.

To keep up with the trend and cater to a market growing more sophisticated, travel agents need to be on their toes all the time, he said. They should be able to create more exciting travel packages as the very traditional ones do not sell as much anymore.

“We’re becoming one big global community and Filipinos are turning out to be more sophisticated when it comes to their choices of destination. It’s no longer just Manila to Los Angeles or New York. What they look for now is adventure to exotic places like Angkor Wat (Cambodia), the Machu Pichu (Peru) the Galapagos (Ecuador) or the Patagonia (Chile).”

Tourists are also exploring for new places to visit here, Ordoñez said. If local travel agents are smart enough to respond to this new found enthusiasm, the Philippines may well be in the list of the world traveler’s destinations.