Tourism Promotions Board of DOT Signs MOA with Manila Shimbun

Domingo Ramon Enerio III, Chief Operating Officer of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), shakes hand with Nobuhiko Hashimoto, adviser of the Asian International Community Information, Inc. (AICI) after signing  Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

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An assortment of articles and photos on Philippine tourist destinations, specifically targeted to the Japanese outbound travel market, will be made available to the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism, to support its marketing communications programs.

The TPB recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Asian International Community Information (AICI), Inc. as partnership for the use of feature articles and high resolution photos published by AICI’s The Daily Manila Shimbun (TDMS), the publishing firm of the Navi Manila Magazine and the Navi de Cebu Magazine. AICI has copyrights to the articles and photos.

Navi Manila Magazine, a tourist guide for Japanese visiting the Philippines written in the Japanese language, with Navi de Cebu, tourist magazine for Japanese tourists and residents in Cebu, specialize in travel articles on tourist attractions in the Philippines. The contents of both magazines are appropriate for better marketing of Philippine tourism in Japan.

Domingo Ramon C. Enerio III, Chief Operating Officer of the Tourism Promotions Board, and Cristina Rodriquez, Cebu Office Deputy Bureau Chief of The Daily Manila Shimbun (TDMS), sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

“Giving the Japanese traveller more accurate, objective, and interesting information through the contents of our materials in Nihongo will result in better and more positive travel decision-making for Philippine tourism,” reveals Domingo Ramon Enerio III, TPB’s Chief Operating Officer.

According to Cristina Rodriquez, TDMS’ Cebu Office Deputy Bureau Chief, under the MOA, the AICI or TDMS will give TPB the right to link choice articles from the two Navi magazines. It will continue to give TPB complimentary issues of these magazines quarterly for distribution at the airports in Manila and Cebu.

Rodriquez, who has been working with the Japanese for the past 13 years, says, “Our partnership with the TPB is a way of enhancing Philippine-Japan tourism business as well as intercultural relations between Filipinos and Japanese.”

“Japanese people truly appreciate Philippine hospitality. We experience how Filipinos take care of visitors, especially the elderly. We enjoy and can relax amidst the natural beauty and cultural attractions. Through our work with TPB, we can help promote more destinations and festivals, where we are amazed with the youthful energy of the Filipinos. This is also a good way to pursue lasting peace and prosperity among our peoples,” Nobuhiko Hashimoto, AICI adviser, enthuses.

With proper acknowledgement of TDSM copyrights, TPB is authorized to reproduce articles and photos from these magazines for promotional purposes.

“The Japanese like colourful maps and reading materials that is why their magazines are so artistically designed including the anime characters. Our tie-up with Manila Shimbun will be at no cost to TPB. We only have to help them with their travels around the country in the course of their research, coordination with LGUs, and coverage,” discloses Gwendolyn Batoon, TPB’s Head for the North Asian Market.

Due to its rising economy and incomes, Asia Pacific travel trends for 2013 and next year indicates very strong performance and overwhelmingly positive for Japanese outbound travel with double-digit growth rates. For the past three quarters of 2013, there were 329,008 tourist-arrivals from Japan. This is 5.79% growth rate over the volume of visitor-arrivals for the same period in 2012.

“Although the Japanese travel market is the third top ranking in terms of market share with 9.38%, there is still a lot of room for improvement in tourism marketing communications as well as more visitor arrivals from Japan to the Philippines” COO Enerio says.

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