CEBU, Philippines — In a bid to promote the less popular tourism destinations in Cebu province, a group of travel and tour operators in Cebu expressed interest to partner with online travel services platform Klook.
Cebu Alliance of Tour Operations Specialists (CATOS) president Alice Queblatin said that partnering with Klook is still a good idea although it is viewed as competitor in the destination booking business, since it will bring further Cebu’s prominence in the world’s traveling market.
“We are willing to partner with Klook,” said Queblatin, adding that working together is a good gesture of collaboration.
In a separate interview, Klook market leader for the Philppines Michelle Cruz said that the Hong Kong-based in-destination services platform is pushing Cebu’s experiential tourism attractions to quench the interest of active young travelers around the world.
With this, Cruz said Klook may need the expertise of the local travel and tour operators as partner in promoting the tourism treasures of Cebu that are yet to be discovered by most tourists, especially the young bunch of travelers.
Initially, Klook is looking at curating packages for Cebu’s activity-based destinations starting with Oslob whale shark watching, Kawasan Falls canyoneering, island hopping, including the provision of chartered cars.
Klook Philippines will also soon introduce curated experiential tours for Cebu, capitalizing on the province wealth of appealing destinations for adventure and personal experiences.
As the preferred travel assistant for travel savvy millennials, Cruz said the young travelers are looking for unique experiences—“something they can own.”
“We are beefing up our product portfolio in Cebu,” Cruz said.
Klook has three promises to its users. First, experts all over the world uncover and curate the best experiences every day. "But don’t just take our word for it, with over millions of user reviews, you can always get an authentic look at our experiences," it says in its website.
It also offers a best price guarante. "As the official partner of top attractions and operators worldwide, we ensure all our offerings deliver quality experiences at the best price. Find any better deals and we’ll refund the difference! Learn more here."
"Our platform's intuitive design and strict security measure ensures that every customer has a seamless and secure booking experience," it says further.
Meanwhile, CATOS’ direction now is to promote the undiscovered destinations, especially within the northern Cebu corridor. — JMD