Tourism Malaysia concluded its participation at the Philippines 18th Travel Tour Expo with the theme ‘Around the World in 3 Days!’ last February in Pasay City on a positive note as it was awarded second place for ‘Best Decorated Booth’. The award was given out by the board members of Philippines Travel Agencies Association (PTAA).
Not only that, garnering a total of about RM 497,483 (USD 160,878) from the sales of tour packages during the three day fair, both successes further strengthened Malaysia’s presence in the Philippines market. Last year’s participation generated a sale of RM447, 455 (USD 131,345).
Tourism Malaysia and its partner Malaysia Airlines drew a large number of visitors to the Malaysia booth offering attractive and interactive activities. They were on hand to provide assistance and answer queries from the public, while 21 travel agencies at the fair sold Malaysia packages that catered to the summer peak period from March to May.
According to Ms. Masrina Mohd Bakri, Director of Tourism Malaysia Manila, their success at the fair was due to the hard-sell approach employed by Malaysia in promoting the country.
Among Tourism Malaysia’s marketing strategies implemented during the expo was the Tara Na Sa Malaysia! Facebook group signup which attracted 2,482 new members who had a chance of winning prizes through a Pachinko game. Members of Tourism Malaysia Philippines Facebook group will later receive regular updates about the latest events, travel fares and promotions to Malaysia.
Meanwhile, participating travel agencies that sold Malaysia packages during the fair were given collaterals such as brochures, racks, maps, flyers and promotional kits to aid them in promoting Malaysia travel packages. The brochure racks enabled the Tourism Malaysia branding to be visible in every travel agency’s booth throughout the three day fair.
Apart from that, travel agencies were further encouraged to boost sales of its Malaysia packages with Tourism Malaysia’s instant rewards and incentive programme to top selling travel agencies and top front liners who sold the highest number of Malaysia packages at the end of the travel fair. Visitors to the fair who bought packages to Malaysia were also eligible to redeem instant prizes such as a traveler bag or a luggage tag from Tourism Malaysia.
In addition, Tourism Malaysia also provided advertising support in local newspapers to help promote the travel packages offered by the local travel agencies.
Tourism Malaysia’s booth, with its open space and modern design allowed many promotional activities to be carried out at the booth. Visitors were delighted and awed by the teh tarik demonstration and even got a chance to sample tasty Malaysian snacks.
Philippines celebrity hosts, JC Tiuseco, Gena dela Pena and Stephanie Henares also tried their hands at making teh tarik to the enjoyment of the crowd and posed for pictures with visitors at the replica of the famous Petronas Twin Towers at the Malaysia booth.
The travel fair, held from 18 to 20 February at the SMX Convention Centre saw the participation of other tourism organizations including China, India, Thailand and Hong Kong.
The Philippines is among the top ten tourist generating markets for Malaysia. Last year, Malaysia received 486,790 tourists from Philippines, registering a growth of 8.8% from 2009.
