by Penny Angeles-Tan | Feb 3, 2020 | Business
The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), warmly welcomes its new Chief Operating Officer (COO), Atty. Maria Anthonette C. Velasco-Allones.
A Career Executive Service Officer since 2010, Atty. Velasco-Allones brings her extensive civil service management expertise to TPB. Prior to her appointment, she served as Executive Director of the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) since 2007. Under her leadership, CESB received international recognition from the UN-Asia Pacific Center for ICT in 2009 and 2010 for “bridging the information and communications technology (ICT) capacity gap of government executives in the Philippines to achieve socio-economic and development goals”. She successfully spearheaded CESB’s administrative reforms and program innovations in support of leadership capacity enhancement among the country’s top career senior officials.
She also served as Assistant Secretary for Personnel of the Department of National Defense from 1999-2001 and as Assistant Secretary at the Department of Labor and Employment from 2001-2006.

(L-R) DOTr Usec. Atty. Reinier Paul R. Yebra, Diamond Hotel Philippines general manager Ms. Vanessa L. Suatengco, DFA acting USEC. Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, TPB COO Atty. Maria Anthonette C. Velasco-Allones, DOT USEC. Benito C. Bengzon, Jr., DTI ASEC. Rosario Virginia C. Gaetos, TIEZA asst. COO Jetro Lozada, Mapawa Nature Park president Eduardo Pelaez, and DOT ASEC Howard Lance A. Uyking
An Outstanding Alumni of the National Defense College of the Philippines, Atty. Velasco-Allones received the Outstanding Vincentian Alumni Award for Leadership Excellence and Service from the Unibersidad de Santa Isabel in Naga City last 2018.
Atty. Velasco-Allones completed her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines. She obtained her Master in Public Management from the joint program of the Lee Kuan Yew School of the Public Policy-National University of Singapore and the Kennedy School of Government-Harvard University.
She presently serves as a core faculty member of the Ateneo School of Government and is a resident faculty of CESB’s Leadership and Management Proficiency Program.
Her extensive and remarkable achievements in the public sector, organizational development, and strategic human resource management earned her the prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award in the field of Human Resource Development in government service in the Philippines in 2009.
Atty. Velasco-Allones will lead TPB’s continuing campaign to manage all domestic and international marketing and promotional efforts for Philippine tourism and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events (MICE) industries. Aside from promoting and supporting sustainable tourism, TPB will also participate in numerous travel expositions, strengthen its social media presence, and continue ongoing projects to help increase the number of local and inbound tourists.
Under her leadership, TPB is looking forward to a purposeful year of promoting the country to become the most preferred tourist destination in the Asia Pacific by 2022.
Atty. Velasco-Allones will assume office as TPB COO on February 10, 2020.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 16, 2020 | Business
The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines once again proves its commitment towards the continuous improvement of its management systems by successfully maintaining its ISO 9001:2015 certification.
The audit performed by the Certification International Philippines, Inc. showed that the quality management systems in place at TPB have seen remarkable improvements and discovered no non-conformities in the organization’s existing processes on design, development, and provision of Philippine tourism marketing and promotions versus the ISO standards. An attached agency of the Department of Tourism, TPB exists to market and promote the Philippines domestically and internationally as a world-class tourism and MICE destination.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Nov 5, 2019 | Events

World Travel Market London
Itogon Coffee, one of our country’s premium specialty coffee from Benguet province, debuts at the World Travel Market London (WTM London), the leading global event for the travel industry that will take place from November 4 to 6.

Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippines (TPB) and Henry & Sons will brew, serve and share the beautiful story behind this delicious coffee from Itogon, a mining town in Benguet that is continuously transforming into a sustainable coffee-growing community. This opens an opportunity for Henry & Sons to fulfill its commitment to bring back the Philippines in the global coffee spotlight through a sustainable coffee economy.
Through the Foundation for Sustainable Coffee Excellence, the advocacy arm of Henry and Sons, different programs are being conducted to help the farmers produce quality coffee beans. While the country takes pride in brewing the Itogon coffee at the WTM London, the beautiful journey of the coffee farmers from the mining profession to growing, harvesting and delivering delicious coffee for the world to taste will also be shared during the event.

Raoul de Peralta
The Institute for Coffee Excellence‘s Chief Educator Raoul de Peralta will brew and man the coffee bar at the Philippine Pavilion.
WTM London is a global event where industry professionals meet and conduct business deals. Through its industry networks, unrivaled global reach, WTM London creates personal and business opportunities, providing customers with quality contacts, content and communities.

itogon coffee
Get to taste Itogon coffee and contribute in helping them shift their main livelihood from mining into coffee farming and in empowering the farmers to process world-class specialty coffees in their own backyards.
Visit thevault.ph for orders and for more information.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Oct 24, 2019 | Travel
The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), is set to boost tourism in the Philippines as it simultaneously mounts the Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) and MICE Buyers Invitational (MICECONnect) 2019 on October 20 to 27 to promote the Philippines as a prime tourist destination for both leisure and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibits/Events).
Phitex
Now in its 18th year, PHITEX is considered to be the biggest travel trade event in the country, with close to 200 sellers and 200 buyers participating. The main highlight of the event is the one and a half day business-to-business (B2B) session between foreign buyers and local sellers to encourage tourism-related discourse among the participants, and open doors for business opportunities.

Marie Venus Tan, TPB COO
“PHITEX is mounted annually as a support for stakeholders in the travel trade industry,” says TPB COO Marie Venus Tan.
“Instead of working as individual operators and sellers, we provide a platform for them to connect to hundreds of buyers from all over the world in one venue, which saves them precious time and money. The event also gives buyers a more comprehensive view of the different destinations and packages that they can sell to consumers, either as an individual or bundled tours.”
Participants also took part in the PHITEX educational seminar where industry leaders discussed new trends in tourism marketing as well as marketing strategies in mature and emerging markets while keeping the theme of “Philippine Tourism: Trailblazing Responsible Travel and Inclusive Growth,” in mind.
Giving their insights were Thomas Graham, Co-Founder of Make A Difference (MAD) Travel, Carlos Mori Rodriguez, the Chief Innovation Officer of EON The Stakeholder Relations Group, and Nelly Nuezca Dillera, CESO III, the Deputy Executive Director of the Philippine Trade Training Center – Global MSME Academy, who ended the seminar on how DTI is building capabilities for halal development and certification.”
MICECONnect 2019

Meanwhile, MICECONnect 2019, aims to accelerate the Philippine MICE industry by gathering MICE suppliers to showcase the country as a premium destination for international events and conferences.
Happening simultaneously with PHITEX, MICECONnect 2019 is the continuation of a two-year program as a comprehensive educational seminar for local MICE stakeholders to learn new and effective global trends, approaches, and methods. This year’s focus is conducting business networking opportunities to further develop the country’s MICE industry.
MICECONnect 2019 likewise features B2B sessions for Philippine and foreign MICE buyers, and include a hotel and MICE venue inspection. Moreover, MICECONnect delegates will be treated to post-event tours to highlight some of the country’s premier MICE destinations including Iloilo City, Bacolod, Davao, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Tagaytay, Manila, and Batangas.
More importantly, both PHITEX and MICECONnect 2019 enable TPB to support and raise awareness on sustainable community-based tourism. Apart from promoting what the Philippines can offer, TPB also advocates for the protection of natural assets and expanding the benefits of tourism to communities that are directly and indirectly affected by the industry, consequently helping DOT towards achieving its goals for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
To know more about PHITEX and MICECONnect 2019, visit the following websites:
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