DOT holds ocular tour of Pasig River Ferry, Metro Manila eateries

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is expanding Metro Manila’s tourism offerings following an ocular tour of the Pasig River Ferry Stations and recommended restaurants in the metro.

In a Facebook post, the National Capital Region (NCR) unit of the DOT said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat led a team composed of tourism industry players, DOT attached agencies along with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority(MMDA) for an ocular tour of Pasig River Ferry Stations as well as potential restaurants that may cater to tourists.

“Today we embark on a multi-sectoral activity forged by our commitment to develop for Metro Manila a community-based product that showcases their heritage and culture,” DOT-NCR said.

DOT-NCR director Woodrow Maquiling Jr. said the Pasig River Ferry could be developed into a sustainable mode of transport for tourism and the commuting public to further boost the region’s vibrant tourism industry.

Among the tourism industry partners who joined the inspection were Tourism Congress of the Philippines president Jose Clemente, Philippine Tour Operators Association president Cesar Cruz and Marissa Nallana of Philippine Association of Convention Exhibition Organizers.

MMDA chief of staff Michael Salalima as well as Intramuros Administration administrator Guiller Asido also joined the ocular.

Tourism Undersecretary Edwin Enrile and Assistant Secretary Reynaldo Ching also took part in the ocular trip.

 “The ocular provided the department with vital information to improve and develop this new tourism product for MyMetroManila,” DOT-NCR said.

DOT-NCR recently partnered with Explora.ph to create the MyMetroManila app, which shows tourists sights to see, places to eat and other relevant information about Metro Manila, aimed at making traveling within the city easier and more convenient.

“This makes the hassle of going back and forth through several websites to gather information a thing of the past,” DOT-NCR said.

The mobile app also comes with a real-time messaging feature enabling interaction between its users  and DOT-NCR representatives.

“Travelers can now have a local travel buddy in the app ready to answer queries and make every trip within the city a memorable one,” DOT said.

The mobile app also offers the Metro Yummy Picks, a food guide featuring the iconic food and restaurants of Metro Manila for both local and foreign tourists.

Maquiling earlier said the DOT is eyeing to develop more tourism hubs in the country’s capital, driven by the growth it experienced this year.

“It’s very much growing. It’s exploding, in fact,” Maquiling said when asked of the performance of the Metro Manila tourism market this year.

“That’s the reason why we want to develop more areas of Metro Manila. We want to showcase Pateros, we want to showcase Muntinlupa. We are pushing for more development and more tourists hubs across the region,” he added.