GMCAC Chief Executive Advisor Andrew Harrison welcomes travel and tour operators to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport’s sales mission held in Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City. (GMCAC photo)
CEBU CITY, Philippines— The GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) is working to boost passenger traffic in the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) by holding sales missions in key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Avigael M. Ratcliffe, junior manager for GMCAC corporate communications and CSR, said the sales missions formed part of the company’s effort to promote Cebu as a destination as well as encourage passengers to consider MCIA as an alternative transit point to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Ratcliffe said the company’s sales missions would help increase passenger traffic since passengers going abroad or returning to their home province could now choose to do so via MCIA.
What makes MCIA attractive to transit passengers based in Visayas and Mindanao is the airport’s proximity to the provinces in the Vismin area, according to Ratcliffe.
She also pointed at the convenience enjoyed by transiting passengers since the domestic terminal and the international terminals are near each other.
The sales mission is one of Mactan Cebu Airport’s marketing initiatives to keep tourism stakeholders, particularly travel and tour operators, informed of the recent developments in MCIA, highlighting the many destinations out of MCIA and the convenience that it offers to passengers who will use MCIA as their transit point.
The company held its first sales missions targeting domestic passengers going abroad last year.
This year, GMCAC held its first sales mission today, January 30, in Davao City to promote the flights and services of Mactan-Cebu International Airport to the travel and tour operators, Ratcliffe said.
GMCAC, a private company that manages the MCIA terminal operations, aims to institutionalize the sales missions every year, starting off in Davao.
“Davao is a very important market for us, so we continuously reach out and do dialogues with our tourism stakeholders through the sales missions. However, our effort does not end with the sales missions; it is just one of the many,” GMCAC Head for Airline Marketing and Tourism Development Aines Librodo said in an emailed press statement.
Tigerair Taiwan Commercial Director Bernard Hsu (3rd from left) discusses to travel agents its Cebu-Taipei service during the B2B session. (GMCAC photo)
According to Librodo, the company has designated a sales coordinator focused only in Davao to provide constant coordination with the travel industry and the Davao market.
Several airlines joined the Davao sales mission such as Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, Philippines AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern Airlines, Emirates, and Tigerair Taiwan. Tigerair Taiwan, which recently opened Cebu-Taipei services last year, is the latest addition to the roster of airlines participating in MCIA’s sales mission.
The tourism industry stakeholders in Davao welcomed the sales mission since it gave them the opportunity to talk directly to the airlines, Ratcliffe said.
About 130 guests from various travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, and corporate accounts attended the first leg of the MCIA sales mission in Davao.
In the succeeding weeks, GMCAC will go to Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Iloilo, and Tacloban for its series of sales missions on February 6, 12, 13, and February 20, respectively./dbs