Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat (4th from right) gets a surprise birthday cake from well-wishers. Puyat will be celebrating her birthday next week. /Irene R. Sino Cruz
CEBU CITY, Philippines–The Philippines is bidding for two major international tourism events, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said.
Puyat made this disclosure when she delivered the welcome address at the Pacific Asia Travel Association Annual Summit 2019, held in Cebu today, May 10. This is the first time for the Philippines to host this event.
“The Philippines is bullish in our pursuit of hosting the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) General Assembly in 2021, and the World Travel and Tourism Global Summit in the same year,” the tourism secretary said.
She noted that the Philippines, through the hosting of Routes Asia 2019 and the Pata Annual Summit 2019, has delivered the message “We are ready.”
The country offers immense diversity of tourism products and has put in place the growing infrastructure to facilitate travel to various tourism destinations, Puyat said.
“The Philippines is worth visiting many times over. We can’t wait to show them to the world,” she added.
The Philippines is also seeking the support of PATA for the country’s candidacy to two UNWTO committees. These are the Committee on Statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account and the Committee on Tourism and Sustainability.
Puyat also noted that while the country’s tourism has become stronger, it has yet to reach its full potential. She also considered the PATA Annual Summit as a good place to learn about emerging trends in the tourism industry.
Almost 400 delegates gathered at the Radisson Blu Hotel today for the PATA Summit 2019. Around 75 percent of the participants or 289 were international delegates while the rest are locals./dcb