MANILA, Philippines — Around 320 balikbayans and American tourists arrive in the country today as part of the 12th Ambassadors’ Tour, a joint undertaking of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that seeks to boost Philippine tourism and contribute to the development of local communities.
The participants, to be led by Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, will visit Manila, Cebu and Bohol during the tour, which will run from July 9 to 15.
Romualdez said the tour would give Filipino-Americans the chance “to
reconnect with their roots” and “develop pride in their Filipino identity, thus making them more effective ambassadors of the Philippines in the US.”
To begin their tour, the Filipino-Americans will join a wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal Park in Manila tomorrow morning.
While in Manila, they will tour the University of Santo Tomas Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.
On Tuesday, the visitors will fly to Cebu, where they will see various historical sites in the province and get the chance to swim with whale sharks in Oslob.
On Thursday, they will tour the world-famous Chocolate Hills in Bohol and interact with tarsiers, one of the world’s smallest primates.
The Ambassadors’ Tour offered a tour package of around $1,000, consisting of a three-night stay at Nobu Hotel in Manila, a two-night stay at Shangri-La Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu and a two-night stay at Hennan Panglao in Bohol.
Rajah Tours’ Alejandra Clemente said each Filipino-American family normally spends a minimum of $1,000 a day.
Raja Tours is involved in the conceptualization of the annual Ambassadors’ Tour program and is a partner of the DOT in the development of tourism in the country.
Started in 2005, the Ambassadors’ Tour, formerly Ambassadors/Consul General and Tourism Directors Tour to the Philippines, has become the most successful promotional project of the DOT’s Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) in the US.
However, Clemente, who served as president of the Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines, said the funding for this year’s Ambassadors’ Tour was removed by former tourism secretary Wanda Teo in the 2018 budget of the DOT.
She said the DFA has lobbied to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat to return the allocation for the promotional program, which started during the stint of her father Alberto Romulo as secretary of foreign affairs.
Clemente said the Ambassadors’ Tour used to get a budget of about P10 million from the DOT-TPB.
“This (Ambassadors’ Tour) has been institutionalized, it should be given a budget,” she said.
Clemente said apart from discovering new destinations in the Philippines, the Ambassadors’ Tour also gives the visitors the opportunity to invest in the country.
“I don’t know of any promotional program which has lasted this long,” she said.