HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE:OUR NEW ABNORMAL Earlier in the week, the Philippines hosted the World Travel & Tourism Council’s Global Summit, and it stands as a timely reminder of the various stakes at play as we try to jumpstart our national recovery. Two Sundays ago, in Rebooting Tourism...
DAVAO CITY – The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) is set to launch ‘VolunTurismo,’ a program it hopes would attract around 100,000 volunteer tourists to visit Siargao Island and help the islanders in their economic recovery and rehabilitation efforts. MinDA public relations head Adrian...
SIEM REAP, Cambodia -- As dawn breaks, foreign tourists gather by the ancient towers of Cambodia's Angkor Wat, some of the lucky few to see the World Heritage Site with the crowds thin as the country recovers from the coronavirus. Hopes are high that the temple complex, recently revitalised from...
Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat lauded the Philippines’ hosting of the 21st World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit which culminated on Friday, April 22. World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit 2022 (Courtesy of Department of Tourism Facebook...
Author Kevin Kwan and film producer Lawrence Bender are currently in Manila. They were tapped to speak at the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) global summit. During a panel discussion Thursday, Bender revealed his and Kwan's plan to shoot a movie here. "One of the reasons why we're here is...
After the two-year ordeal brought about by the pandemic, Filipinos are once again traveling as seen in airports that are full of passengers, roads that are full of vehicles, and restaurants that are full of customers. Last week, hotels and resorts enjoyed high occupancy rates, something they...
Philippine Airlines (PAL) achieved "better than expected" financial results in the first quarter of 2022 and is now at 80 percent of its pre-pandemic levels, in terms of domestic flights and 60 percent, in international flights. "In the 3rd and 4th quarter, we'll add more flights and go back to 80...
Presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos has been using vlogs to reach as wide an audience as possible ahead of the May 9, 2022 elections. With now over 200 of these vlogs posted on his YouTube channel, a scouring of noteworthy snippets in these videos is in order. (Screenshot from Bongbong Marcos's...
The Las Pinas City Tourism Office was recognized by the Department of Tourism (DOT) for its continued support and dedicated service to Philippine tourism. Mayor Imelda Aguilar thanked DOT Regional Director Sharlene Zabala-Batin for giving a plaque of recognition to the City Tourism Office headed by...
Ranking members of the House of Representatives have underscored the need to rev up the tourism sector after two years of being dormant under the Covid-19 pandemic. Boracay, arguably the crown jewel of Philippine tourism (RJ Baculo/ Unsplash) House Ways and Means panel chairman, Albay 2nd district...
LIMA, Peru -- Peru on Saturday declared a state of emergency in its critical tourism industry, which has been crushed by Covid. The country went from receiving 4.4 million foreign tourists in 2019 to 900,000 in 2020. In 2021, only 400,000 visited, according to official data. The Ministry of Foreign...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE:OUR NEW ABNORMAL As the notion of our post-Covid economic recovery comes fully into play, it’s inevitable that we’ll think of particular arenas such as tourism. Pre-pandemic, it was a dollar revenue-earner that was on the upswing, and one that we’d continuously...