A TOTAL of 53 buyers and 91 sellers from all over the Philippines attended the recently concluded PhilippineMICE Conference 2011. This year’s mix of buyers came from China, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Vietnam, some visiting the country for the first time.
P. Pavan Kumar, general manager for sales at Kuoni Travel Group India is interested in bringing groups of about 20 participants to Manila, with possible side trips to the lakeside city of Tagaytay, about 60 kilometers from the capital.
“Flights from India into the Philippines are a limitation, but we will look at Cebu more closely in the future,” he said.
He added: “We were hoping to meet more DMCs like us, who can take of business with one price and one package, with nothing more to worry about.”
Dada Estonactoc, director of sales and marketing at the as-yet-unopened Nandana Resort in Boracay, said she had been hoping to meet more foreign buyers at the conference.
“It is easy for us to make client calls to local prospects, whereas foreign buyers come here for the first time and don’t know us yet,” she explained.
The province of Davao in Southern Philippines has won the bid to host the next edition of the annual conference in 2013, skipping a year to facilitate the Philippines Tourism Promotions Board’s hosting of PATA Philippines in 2012.
