Leading members of the tourism industry are competing in a bargain showdown that aim to give the traveling public the biggest discounts.
The bargain showdown, made available at the forthcoming Travel Madness Expo, will involve at least 22 international airlines, 48 big travel agencies, 28 top hotels and resorts, four theme parks and six cruise ships, 13 national tourism organizations and 16 retailers and global service providers.
“Yet, their number continues to rise, compelling us to book all the four exhibit halls of the SMX Convention Center Mall of Asia to accommodate them for this year’s Travel Madness Expo,” said Raymond Tee, president of Travel Innovators Inc., the event organizer.
Scheduled on July 8 to 10, the Travel Madness Expo is originally designed for advanced booking for the lean season in TII’s bid to make tourism a year-round affair. But since its first staging in 2012, the expo has evolved into an international event for travel promos, discounts and rock-bottom prices for the peak season and throughout the year.
Participating in the event, according to the TII’s roster, are the world’s prestigious international airlines led by national flag carrier Philippine Airlines, and the national tourism organizations of various countries with the support of their embassies in the Philippines.
“Various BSOs [business support organizations] are also participating in the Travel Madness Expo to make it a one-stop shop for all your travel requirements,” said TII vice president Maria Paz Alberto, citing the leading participation of the Bank of the Philippine Islands for travel financing, and government agencies Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and Duty-Free Philippines.
This year’s expo comes at a time when fuel prices are at their lowest in a decade and Southeast Asian nations are working together to promote world travel to the region.
“So, for the rest of the year, we expect a relatively low-fare regime that the traveling public can take advantage of as fuel accounts for at least 28 percent of an airline’s operating cost,” Alberto said.
