ITB Berlin has fewer buyers, but provides leads for PHL travel

THE Philippines continues to maintain the interest of foreign tourists amid their impatience for the lifting of international border restrictions here.

“We noticed that people want to travel,” said Gregor Zajc,  general manager of Blue Horizons Travel & Tours Inc., which participated in last week’s virtual ITB Berlin. “We often received a request to notify the customers once the borders are open and they will come. This sends a very positive sign that we have not  been forgotten and that the Philippines still is on the list of world travelers,” he added, after meeting with several repeat buyers.

Overall, there were fewer buyers this year perhaps because of the virtual nature of the travel trade show, reputed to be the largest in the world. This year, only 65,000 buyers attended the event compared to 160,000 in 2019. (ITB Berlin was cancelled last year because of the pandemic.)

Thus, less engagements were already expected as in previous trade shows held under the pandemic, according to Joey Bernardino, group director of sales and marketing of El Nido Resorts.

At ITB, he said, “The companies that joined were mixed; we had some new inquiries and a number of existing partners. The existing partners had bookings that they are also trying to keep so they are happy with our flexible booking conditions.”

Waiting for borders to reopen

Despite the reduced number of engagements expected, the Philippine delegation consisted of 15 hotels and resorts from all over the country, and 10 travel agencies/destination management companies.

According to the participants, most of the buyers’ questions centered on when the country’s borders would reopen. “They would of course understand it when we explained that this is difficult to pinpoint as the situation is still developing globally,” said Margarita Patricia R. Valdes, Philippines Tourism Attache for Frankfurt, Germany.

She said, “Foreign tour operators were very interested to know about the specific policies and protocols that each company and property have put in place to adapt to the changes in the markets (e.g. flexible booking conditions, safety protocols, new efforts on sustainability, etc.). Buyers have also expressed that they expect their clients to travel to the Philippines again once restrictions are lifted.”

As such, “The Philippines’ continued participation at the ITB signaled to the world that our tourism industry is ready for international tourists as soon as conditions allow it.”

Zajc said most of Blue Horizons’ repeat customers already know the Philippines and what they want to do, although they received inquiries from new agents as well.

“All of them are looking for tropical beaches and the activities one can do aside. We basically sell the whole Philippines with main tourist destinations such as Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, Palawan, Siargao, etc. As Europeans tend to spend a longer period of time in the Philippines, on average two weeks, we propose a combination of tours and beach holiday.” This includes sightseeing in Manila and a trip to Banaue Rice Terraces before flying off to beaches.

Key selling points

This year, he said, “Clients are looking for destinations which follow health and safety protocols. But we also noticed that they are looking for destinations with less people, hence smaller islands or smaller island resorts.”

Valdes said the Tourism Promotions Board, the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), and DOT-Frankfurt had 75 meetings with media and travel trade companies during ITB, “with more follow-on meetings scheduled this week, which is an indication of the international travel community’s continued interest in the Philippines.”

Prior to the pandemic, tourist arrivals from Germany reached 103,756, up 12.7 percent in 2019. Tourists from Germany accounted for 35 percent of the 298,470 total arrivals from Western Europe that year.

The Philippine delegation included: Amorita Resort, Banwa Private Island, Belmont Newport Luxury Hotels, Bluewater Resorts, Bohol Beach Club, Club Agutaya, Crimson Hotels and Resorts, Discovery Shores Boracay, El Nido Resorts, Marriott Hotel, Okada Manila, Shangri-la Boracay Resort, South Palms Resort, Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., Winford Hotel Manila, Annset Holidays, Inc., Baron Travel Corp., Blue Horizon Travel and Tours, CTPH Tour, Intas Destination Management Inc., Kapwa Travel and Tours, Rajah Tours Philippines Inc., Sharp Travel Services, Travel Experts Inc., and Travelite Travel and Tours.