The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

MANILA, Philippines - Beaches or water sports destinations are popular this year, based on internet search data by Google Inc.

In Google’s Zeitgeist (German for “spirit of the times”), a collection of top items searched on the internet by users from a particular area, the company identified the “fastest-rising travel destinations” in the Philippines.

Topping the list are beach destinations like Baler in Quezon province, a budding surfing hotspot; Coron town in Palawan, which is dotted with lagoons, caves, and rare fauna; as well as El Nido, also in Palawan, which is home to the posh El Nido Resort complex.

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The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River in Palawan successfully landed on the top 77 nominees on the New 7 Wonders of Nature (N7WN) international poll. Organizers of the N7WN reported that the top 77 were chosen out of the 261 contenders, after the second phase of the worldwide voting ended in July 7, 2009.

“The success of this campaign wouldn’t have been possible without the Filipinos’ worldwide support. We are grateful to the people who voted and heeded our call to promote one of our national treasures,” said Tourism Secretary Ace Durano.

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MANILA, Philippines — It’s a good time to travel nowadays as air fares have been slashed by as much as 50 percent while room rates are down by 10 percent.

Philippine Travel Agents Association (PTAA) vice president John Paul Cabalza said air fares have gone down by more than 50 percent to encourage more people to take a trip.

“There are some airlines that offer airfares for as low as P1,500 roundtrip for Palawan or Boracay,” he said.

Room rates have also gone down by 10 percent, still in an attempt to prop up domestic tourism to offset the slack in international tourism.

Because of the slowdown in the global economy, the government said tourism will have a negative growth or a flat growth at best.   [Read full article...]

To wonder the Department of Tourism is consistent in its bid to promote the beauty of the Philippines through travel fairs around the world - there’s really more to be discovered in our country, like Coron, Palawan.

Known for its reefs, seven enchanting lakes, caves that are home to a rare Philippine bird, dive spots, sunken Japanese naval ships and more, Coron has not just caught the attention of DOT to promote it as a tourist destination, or the eyes of nature lovers around the world but has also hooked the interests of local movie producers Regal Entertainment and GMA Films for them to shoot “When I Met You” in Coron!

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