The Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) has signed an MoU with Turkish Airlines that aims to boost the country’s tourism from the European, Mediterranean and other international markets served by the airline.
The signing of the MOU was held at the Turkish Airlines’ headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey recently, in conjunction with the Turkey Tourism Roadshow organised by the DoT and the department’s participation at the Uzakrota Travel Summit, one of Turkey’s largest tourism events.
Under the new collaboration, the DoT and Turkish Airlines will conduct various projects this year to promote tourism in the country, with the goal of boosting inbound arrivals to the Philippines.
Under the partnership, both the DoT and Turkish Airlines will jointly work on brand advertising, promotional and tactical marketing campaigns, digital and e-marketing, familiarisation tours for airline executives, media, travel trade partners, roadshow presentations, among other activities.
The partnership was signed by DOT undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr and Ilker Ayci, chairman of the board of Turkish Airlines, after successful discussions of possible avenues to increase air connectivity between Turkey and the Philippines, as well as various parts of Europe via Istanbul.
Bengzon said the sustained air connectivity from those areas “would definitely be pivotal in boosting our ability to grow, and make packages to the Philippines more competitive”.
European arrivals to the Philippines rose by 9.13 per cent in 2019 to 772,098 – from 707,525 the previous year – accounting for 9.34 per cent of the total international visitorship to the Philippines.
Meanwhile, arrivals from the Mediterranean markets, Israel and Turkey have doubled in the last five years, with an average growth rate of 16 per cent.
