31 August 2005 – Ambassador Victoria S. Bataclan of the Philippine Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Embassy, in cooperation with the London office of the Department of Tourism (DOT), has organized a familiarization trip to the Philippines for 12 tour operators from Sweden, Norway and Lithuania on 3 – 8 September 2005.

Ambassador Bataclan said that that the tour is a joint venture with Malaysia Airlines and Tourism Malaysia, and will acquaint Nordic and Baltic tour operators with destinations and tourism facilities in Manila, Tagaytay and Boracay, as well as Malaysian destinations.

“The program gives life to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Philippines and Malaysia, signed in Putrajaya, Malaysia on 7 August 2001, that calls for joint promotion – including twinning programs – in international tourist markets,” Ambassador Bataclan explained.

Ambassador Bataclan further said, “In the absence of a Philippine flag carrier in the Nordic region, the Embassy regards Malaysia Airlines as a viable partner for Philippine tourism promotion given how Philippine and Malaysian tourism markets complement each other insofar as long-haul Nordic and Baltic travelers are concerned.”

Ambassador Bataclan hosted a dinner for the tour participants on 27 August 2005 at her official residence with a view to giving the participants a pre-departure orientation on the Philippines.

The travel agencies joining the familiarization trip are Sweden’s Overseas Travel, Tur & Retur, Paradis Resor, Billjett-Torget/ABC Tours, Blue Wings, Oden Resor, and Philippine Travel and Trade Promotions; Norway’s Tur-Retur Reiser, Eastern Travel and Tours, and STA Travel and Combi Tours; and Lithuania’s Glotera Travel.  Ambassador Bataclan said that some travel agents are expected to stay on in Manila for the Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) 2005 and the Philippine Travel Mart scheduled for 8 – 15 September 2005.

On the Philippine side, the participating hosts are Rajah Tours, the Heritage Hotel, Pearl of the Pacific, Mandarin Hotel, Club Panoly and Seawind.

Ambassador Bataclan said that nearly 27,000 tourists from the Nordic region visited the Philippines in 2004, and the DOT’s statistics showed an average growth rate of 25% in visitor arrivals from the Nordic region for 2004.

Ambassador Bataclan remarked that with this familiarization tour and other tourism promotion projects, the Embassy looks forward to improving the statistics for the Nordic region and to introduce Philippine tourism to emerging tourist markets in the Baltics.  END