The 11th Worldmaster International Travel Mart (2nd Leg) in Quezon City

Thursday, May 11, 2023

 


We just had the pleasure of covering the Worldmaster International Travel Mart 2023 which is currently celebrating their 11th year. It's a business to business forum for international and domestic travel professionals wherein they can connect with legitimate travel agencies in the Philippines. The Philippines is currently in a revenge travel state and the inamiable thirst to see more places around the world and in the country has been much higher than anticipated. This has been heavily supported not just by different travel organizations, but by the Department of Tourism and the local government of Quezon City which this was also held. This is the second leg after doing it in Clark Pampanga last May 8th which was highly successful and it will also happen tomorrow May 12th at the Dusit Thani Residence in Davao City.




As you can see much of the international sellers include those companies that offer trips to the Holy Land (Jordan, Israel, Egypt), plus destinations like Taiwan, China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and a surprise was the scenic route to Russia among others. Aside from the international destinations, the Philippines had offers to Bohol, El Nido + Coron in Palawan, Boracay, Cebu, Southern Tagalog, the Visayas Region and Mindanao. This is a place where legitimate agencies would be able to work out arrangements from companies so the travel agencies would be able to offer them to travelers like us!

 We were also able to talk to Mr. Noi Alunan of Great Getaways (a travel agency who participated in this year's WITM B2B meetings) where he lauded WITM and how it has benefited the company he represents and the entire travel industry in the Philippines.



The Worldmaster International Travel Mart has been founded by Dr. Leilani Agana and has benefited businesses around the world and the local tourism industry. Dr. Agana was there personally meeting the companies, business owners and travel agency representatives and held a talk about the tourism industry. Representatives from the Department of Tourism and several travel groups also asked questions in a short Q and A to give us a glimpse of the future of travel in the Philippines and how Filipinos could take advantage of the various tours they offer. Part of the questions I asked about the Holy Land tours were graciously answered by Sir Noi, which means there will be more taking interest in doing their own revenge travels very soon. They also emphasize the importance of only doing reservations and arrangements with reputable businesses so they don't get scammed online.

WITM will continue with their Davao leg tomorrow and perhaps, a 12th Worldmaster International Travel Mart next year won't be too far. If you are interested, please check out their Facebook page as updates have been regularly posted there.

Can't wait to see more of the world after this! Congratulations to the men and women behind this event and to Dr. Agana who has been working so hard to make this all possible!

  COW

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