DOT, SM team up to promote lesser-known Philippines destinations

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is luring tourists into the country’s lesser-known destinations as it launches the Juan Fun Adventure caravan in partnership with SM Supermalls.

On Tuesday, DOT and SM Supermalls introduced the Juan Fun Adventure, an immersive photo pod installation, where mallgoers can pose and take pictures of.

“SM Supermalls and the DOT proudly present this immersive photo pod installation, which we hope will encourage the public to venture outdoors and discover the country’s myriad tourist attractions,”Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

“At the same time, we also expect that this experiential project will create further awareness for the DOT’s long-term advocacy, the promotion of sustainable travel,”she added.

The pilot project was launched at SM City San Lazaro in Manila and featured six travel pods with tourist destinations such as Calle Crisologo in Vigan, Mayon Volcano in Albay, Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan, the Sirao Farm in Cebu, Davao Farm and Falls in Mindanao.

“As we make malling more fun in the Philippines, we bring top local destinations closer to our shoppers.Thanks to this collaboration with the DOT, our mallgoers can have picture-perfect moments without having to travel far,” SM Supermalls chief operating officer Steven Tan said.

Apart from the travel pods, the Juan Fun Adventure will also feature travel talks on various topics such as how to be responsible tourists as well as eco-friendly travel tips.

The Juan Fun Adventure caravan will be held until April 2020 in select SM Malls.

Future editions of the caravan will be held in SM Fairview (Oct. 28 to Nov. 9), Mall of Asia (Nov. 11 to 17), SM Megamall (Nov. 18 to 24), SM Masinag (Jan. 8 to 15), SM Aura Premier (Jan. 17 to Feb. 2), SM Marikina (Feb. 4 to 26), SM BF Parañaque (Feb. 28 to March 15), SM East Ortigas (March 17 to 24), SM Sucat (March 26 to April 9), and SM Manila (April 11 to 30).

The program is part of the Malling is More Fun in the Philippines campaign of the DOT and SM Supermalls.

The nationwide campaign was earlier launched in May, which aims to position the Philippines as a shopping destination.

Based on data from the DOT in 2017, shopping was the number one activity done by tourists visiting the country, with 51.60 percent of tourists taking part in it.

Shopping is also where tourist spend a large amount of expenditure on, as it amounts to $20.90 of the average daily expenditure per capita in 2017 of $125.65.

The DOT earlier emphasized that building up shopping tourism in the country is part of the equation to spur economic growth, create millions of jobs, livelihoods and enterprises and help the Philippines become a globally recognized quality destination.