28 FEATURE
philippines
class wreck diving. New luxury resorts include
the Two Seasons (
twoseasonsresorts.com), Huma Island Resort (
humaisland.com) and Ariara (
ariaraisland.com). Airport: The planned upgrading of Terminal
Three at Manila’s NAIA airport is behind schedule but is now due to be completed by the end of the year, while work has just started on Terminal One. Tour operators: While most operators include
Boracay – the country’s premier beach destination – in their schedules, Intrepid (
intrepidtravel.com) has introduced a new twist. Its Malay Rural Experience Urban Adventure day tour (around £24) showcases a different side to the island: accompanied by a local guide, travellers can learn about rice farming, fi shing, and coconut oil production, explore a bat cave, and try some local dishes. Agents can book it alongside Intrepid’s 12-day Philippine Discovery tour or as a standalone day tour.
Tourism talk “The UK remains our biggest source market from Europe: up until September last year we received 81,436 visitors from the UK.
We are waiting for the Q4 statistics to be released but those numbers are certain to be down on the previous year due to Typhoon Haiyan. However, I am positive about the coming months. “Many people didn’t even know where the
From left: Mindanao has many fi ne beaches untouched by commercialism; Iconic church in North Luzon; Mandarin fi sh in Malapasusa Island
“Customers will get much more out of a trip by getting out and meeting the locals, such as by taking a hike through rice
fields, forests and villages” LORNA ARCHIBALD, SALES AND MARKETING MANAGER, IMAGINATIVE TRAVELLER
Philippines was before the typhoon…now the positive imagery of the Philippines and the determination of people has created goodwill. “We will be working on joint marketing initiatives with Philippine Airlines in the coming months, and will also focus on festivals: a lot of the biggest ones take place on the third Sunday of January – including Sinulog in Cebu, Ati-atihan in Kalibo and Dinagyang in Iloilo. “We are planning to have more road shows in 2014. Meanwhile, we will run workshops and offer training to new and existing tour operator partners. We are also developing online e-training for agents, with possible mega-fam trips to the country.” Marie Venus Q. Tan, Regional Director for Europe, Russia and CIS, Philippines Department of Tourism
Where to book it REGALDIVE – 01353 659 999
Seven nights at the Pura Vida beach resort, in the town of Dauin, costs from £1,124pp. This includes fl ights, transfers and B&B accommodation, based on two people sharing. A PADI Open Water course costs from £28pp and other dive packages are
available.
regal-diving.co.uk IMAGINATIVE TRAVELLER – 0845 287 5079 The 12-day Philippine Discovery trip is priced from £1,158pp, excluding fl ights. Highlights include the rice terraces of Banaue, Sagada’s hanging coffi ns, a hike up Mt Pinatubo, and two days relaxing on Boracay with a visit to bat caves and a meal of lechon (spit-roasted pig).
imaginative-traveller.com KEADVENTURES – 017687 73966
The new 13-day Mountain Biking in the Philippines trip combines cycling on coastal roads with challenging inland climbs and fun descents. Local ferries are used to travel between Cebu, Bohol, Camiguin and Siquijor islands. From £2,045pp including guide, land and ferry transport, support vehicles and drivers, accommodation and most meals; fl ights are extra.
keadventure.com
CELEBRITY CRUISES – 0844 493 2043 The 17-night Vietnam and
Philippines fl y/cruise, on Celebrity Century, calls at Manila and Boracay in the Philippines, as well as ports in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Priced from £2,230pp (with two sharing), the deal includes fl ights to Singapore.
celebritycruises.co.uk
www.sellinglonghaul.com
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