Tourism dep’t leads sales mission to Singapore, Malaysia

A SALES mission of 15 Cebu hotel, resort and travel agency representatives left yesterday  with the Department of Tourism (DOT) to bring the “fun” brand of Cebu to Singapore and Malaysia.

“This is the first time the DOT Region 7 has spearheaded a mission. We identified Singapore and Malaysia because of their large  market potential considering that we already have direct flights to these countries,” said DOT Regional Director Rowena Montecillo.

Cebu has three  flights daily to and from Singapore while Air Asia and Air Philippines are coming in soon with direct flights linking Malaysia.

Cebu will be promoted as a “fun” destination offering a combination of leisure, shopping and MICE or meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

The schedule includes a product presentation about Cebu and a B2B (business to business) session where  stakeholders can meet and exchange business cards to establish linkages with at least 65 travel agents, said Montecillo.

The sales mission includes representatives from Marco Polo Plaza, Radisson Blu Hotel, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Bluewater Resorts, Costabella Tropical Beach Hotel, Harolds Hotel, San Remegio Beach Club, Destination Specialists Cebu, Southwind Travel and Tours, Travelite Travel and Tours, Divaishnavi Travel and Tours, ESR Travel and Tours, and iTravel iExplore Tour and Travel Services.

The sales mission runs till July 20 but some delegates will stay longer to join the Philippine Tourism Fair 2012 in  Malaysia until July 23.

“The B2B sessions and the fair will give our stakeholders the kind of exposure needed to win customers in Singapore and Malaysia which are emerging markets for Cebu based on our latest figures,” said Montecillo.

From January to March this year, arrivals from Singapore grew by 18.15 percent and Malaysia by 18.5 percent, according to the DOT.

During this period,  3,027 Singapore nationals visited Cebu compared to 2,562 in the same period last year.

Malaysia’s tourist traffic also went up  from  708 visitors to 839 in this period.

“We have a lot to offer to them here. All we need to do is promote Cebu, make them know that we have it,” said Montecillo.

As of April, Central Visayas’  top five markets are Korea, Japan, USA, China and Australia.

Montecillo noted the sharp increase  of Chinese visitors which grew by 141.90 percent with 30,133 Chinese tourists visiting the region since January this year.

“It only shows that China is still a viable and growing market for us despite the conflict in the claims for the Scarborough Shoal. We still see China as our market and will continue to push to promote our country there as well,” said Montecillo./Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap