Tourists from US, Canada join Winter Escapade

BORACAY , Philippines   â€“ Close to 300 tourists and investors from the US and Canada participated in the first Winter Escapade, a tour program launched by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) aimed at attracting snowbirds and balikbayans to visit the Philippines during the cold season in the west.

DOT Region 6 Director Helen Catalbas yesterday said the Winter Escapade is a big boost to the country’s tourism sector, particularly in western Visayas.

“The Winter Escapade initiative is significant to the tourism sector of western Visayas because of its arrivals multiplier. We expect that the present batch of participants will be a factor in the Canadian and US markets as we strengthen our position there,” Catalbas told The STAR.

“This event also allows Panay provinces, Boracay and Guimaras to showcase the best of what they can offer in terms of hospitality, culture, food, arts and crafts,” she said.

The group, composed mostly of Filipino-Canadians and Filipino-Americans, joined the tour which started last Saturday in Kalibo, Aklan and will end on Thursday.

They were accompanied by Philippine Ambassador to Canada Leslie Gatan.

The tour program offers a six-night/seven-day stay in Kalibo, Boracay, Iloilo City, Guimaras, Capiz and Manila.

A tourism investment fair will be hosted by the city government of Iloilo today.

The group is also scheduled to meet with President Aquino in Malacañang on Friday.

Packaged by Rajah Tours, the tour campaign targets large concentrations of Filipino snowbirds in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.

It is a project of the Philippine embassy in Ottawa and is supported by the DOT’s Tourism Promotions Board.

Filipino Krista Bella, 16, last visited the Philippines when she was one and a half years old.

She lives in Toronto with her Filipino parents. Her mother works in a travel agency while her father works at TD Bank.

“We have a lot to offer in the Philippines. Definitely I will come back with my friends,” she said.

Oscar Buera Jr., who hails from Laguna and works as a judge at the Court of Appeals in Calgary, brought with him his parents, wife and two children for the week-long tour.

He said his children enjoy the beaches in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, couple Oscar and Virgie Legaspi, who are both retirees, said the DOT’s latest tour campaign would encourage more Filipino-Canadians to visit the Philippines.

Virgie is a nurse who migrated to Canada in the seventies.

“There are Filipino-Canadians who want to visit the Philippines but they want to come here in groups,” she said.

Based on the 2011 National Household Survey, there are 619,310 people of Filipino descent living in Canada.

The Philippines averages more than 95,000 arrivals from Canada each year.

Arrivals from Canada are expected to hit 228,427 by 2016, the DOT said.