The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT), Beijing Office, has undertaken a billboard campaign in selected metro subway stations across Beijing from 1 December 2011 15 January 2012. Dubbed as Philippine Dream Destinations, the billboard campaign serves as a visual reminder to Chinese consumers of sunny island holidays in the Philippines, particularly during the dark and snowy harsh winter months in northern China. The lighted panel billboards will be posted at eight selected high-traffic density metro stations within the central business district and high-end residential areas of Beijing. The featured destinations include Boracay, Cebu and Davao. The timing of the metro billboard campaign is designed to create visual recall of the Philippines and increase demand for the destination among consumers planning to go abroad to sunnier destinations during the Spring Festival holidays....

Dragon Air / Cathay Pacific, in cooperation with DOT Beijing, CTS Southeast Asia View Travel, and RadissonBlu Hotel, recently co-sponsored a fam trip from Beijing to Cebu, via Hongkong, for Beijing tour operators to promote their Hongkong-Cebu route. The fam trip is part of the promotional effort to support CTS Southeast Asia View Travels newly-launched Cebu- Bohol tour packages. Photo show the tour operator fam trip participants with representatives of the co-sponsors at the f amous Chocolate Hills in Bohol....

The inaugural Boracay direct flight from Beijing to Kalibo last September achieved successful results in the north China market. The first flight 2P826 took off from the terminal 2 of the Beijing Capital Airport at 01:10 18 Sep. All the seats of the A320 aircraft were fully booked and after the 5 hours flight, it landed at Kalibo Airport, near Boracay Island. According to Huayuan, CYTS, Tuniu, Caissa and other tour operators, the feedback from the northern China market was very good. DOT Beijing assisted the sales efforts of the Beijing tour operators for the direct flights with advertising support in consumer newsdailies like Global Times, Beijing Morning Post, Beijing News, Beijing Times and Wanjia City Magazine. To publicize the direct flights from Beijing to Boracay and let more Chinese tourists know about their existence, the DOT Beijing Office and Beijing SXHW Air Consulting Co., Ltd co-sponsored representatives from seven well-known media organizations in Beijing for a FAM trip with the maiden direct flight and feature articles on the island and the new flights will be published in the market very soon. Photo shows the media group with DOT and SXHW Air representatives at Discovery Shores Resort in Boracay....

As a result of DOT Beijing promotional efforts in the honeymoon market in China this year, the Philippines won the Honeymoon Destination of the Year Award in the 2011 annual China Travel Meetings Industry Awards organized by Travel Weekly Publications. Over 4.2 million votes were cast by members of the industry to choose this years awardees during the almost two months voting period , done in July and August 2011 this year. ThePhilippines won the award over Bali and Thailand. A panel of judges initially chose the destinations per category and asked members of the industry to vote online. This is the second year that the Philippines has won an award in this travel industry competition. Photo shows from left : Ms. JazminEsguerra, Tourism Attache of DOT Beijing; Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte; and Mr. Art Boncato, Regional Director for DOT Davao, at the Philippine booth with the Honeymoon Destination of the Year trophy, which was awarded before CIBTM 2011....

A group of Beijing journalists came back from a recent media trip from Davao totally impressed by the destination. Davao is one of the new provincial destinations that the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) Beijing has launched into the northern China area this year and the initial reactions to the destination are very promising. Members of the Beijing media group found Davao so refreshing as a destination, with its natural mountain sites, clean and safe city, and the fantastic island resorts of Samal Island, particularly Pearl Farm Resort. The group was also moved by the hospitality of the local Davao community, led by Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, and also the Davao Filipino-Chinese association. Davaos highlands to islands offerings were recently featured in spreads of articles and photos by the following publications who participated in the trip : 1. Global Travel - 16 August 2011 2. Beijing Morning Post - 17 and 24 August 2011 issues 3. Time Out Beijing - 15 September 2011 4. Wanjia City Weekly - 7 and 15 September issues 5. Women of China - September 2011 issue 6. Best Travel Magazine - September 2011 issue 7 Travel + Leisure Magazine - October 2011 issue Also, as a result of this trip, a MICE or company travel group has already been booked by a Beijing tour operator for Davao this October. Photo shows the media group at the Pearl Farm Resort with representatives of the resort and the DOT Beijing and DOT Davao Offices, who organized the trip. The Beijing media fam trip to Davao was co-sponsored by Cebu-Pacific Air....