MICECON 2010 PRESS RELEASES

Subic is becoming RP's leading convention center
By: BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

With its outstanding facilities, Subic Bay Freeport is now becoming the country's center for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) as more than 300 delegates from local to foreign tourism industry sectors converge in the Freeport for the Philippine MICE Conference.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano cited Subic during the opening of the MICE 2010 Thrusday as both a MICE hub and a gateway to Northern Philippines, as emerging international and regional destination with rich and diverse attractions for such activities.

"Subic opens up a new world for MICE since it offers a very wide array of both man-made and natural facilities for corporate guests who mostly comprise this $300 billion global market, just one percent of which can add $3 billion to our consistently growing tourism dollar receipts," Durano said.

The foreign participants are expected to contribute to that goal by spreading the good news about Subic and the Northern Philippines when they return home to their respective countries and clientele.

The local participants, on the other hand, are poised to step up and adapt their marketing and product development efforts according to specific global requirements, especially with MICE now becoming a very popular business tool worldwide.

The staging of MICECON 2010 in Subic is intended to develop and market the North as another MICE destination outside Manila," Durano said.

This is the first time that a MICE event is being held north of Manila. Previous MICE events were staged in Cebu, Boracay, Davao, Bacolod, and Batangas.

Slated at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center up to Sunday (Feb. 7), MICECON 2010 also brings guests around the Freeport and along the Subic-Clark corridor, including Balanga town in Bataan, now a popular destination for birdwatching.

"This tour of North Philippines will all the more highlight Subic' complete amenities for MICE activities as these complement those of its neighboring localities," said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza who welcomed the guests during yesterday's opening ceremonies.

Arreza was referring to SBMA's luxurious hotels with a total of 1,662 rooms and its 1,876 housing units in a serene and well -maintained environment with jogging and hiking areas, playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis court and convenience stores, all approximately 15-minutes drive away from the central business district and situated amidst dense foliage and expansive greenery, and surrounded by such amenities as marina, beaches, golf greens, eco-tourism, watersports, car and go-kart racing, skating, bowling, cycling, motorcross, duty-free shopping, casinos, restaurants, videoke bars and other amusement and business facilities.

Moreover, the SBMA maintains a large pool of qualified and English-speaking workforce, mainly from the city of Olongapo and the nearby provinces of Zambales and Bataan," Arreza added.

SUBIC - Cebu bested five another destinations in a bid to host one of the biggest tourism events in the country, the Philippine MICE Conference (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions) conference in 2011.

Cebu's tourism stakeholders came together in full force in Subic as cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia officially accepted Saturday the hosting of the PhilMICE Conference in 2011. Garcia said the conference will be dubbed, "Cebu: Top Island Destination."

Speaking before over 500 international and domestic participants during the bidding to host the MICE conference next year at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, Garcia said, "I believe it is a fitting recognition of the unparalleled drawing power of Cebu, the record numbers that have been achieved in tourist arrivals, and all the hard work put in by the industry players." Five other destinations, namely Davao City, Camarines Sur, Bohol, Ilocos, and General Santos City have also expressed their intention to hold the PhilMICE Conference in 2011 but the events organizers, the Philippine Convention & Visitors Corporation attached to Department of Tourism, award the hosting to Cebu.

Cebu has already hosted the same event in July 26, 1993 and again in 2000 and made a bid to bring back the same event in the province in 2011.

Dawnie Roa, Department of Tourism (DoT) 7 Director; expressed her appreciation for the Cebu Governor's support in this particular objective. Garcia has allocated P500,000 of provincial funds in bolstering Cebu's bid to host said conference next year.

Tourism stakeholders and government executives in Cebu are keen on positioning the province, amongst the Philippines' leading tourist destinations, as one of the best meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibits (MICE) destinations in the country.

Department of Tourism (DoT) 7 Driector Dawnie Roa said her office's thrust this year is to attract more markets in the $300 billion global MICE industry to Cebu which, she pointed out now has world-class tourism offerings, including a number of five-star hotels.

As part of the positioning, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was in Subic yesterday to lead Cebu's tourism stakeholders in bidding for the hosting of the 2011 PhilMICE Conference, a gathering of international and domestic MICE tour operators.

Cebu and five other destinations, namely Davao City, Camarines Sur, Bohol, Ilocos, and General Santos City are fighting to be the next host of the MICE Conference.

MICECON is an activity of the Philippine Convention & Visitors Corporation, Government Corporation attached to the DoT.

Cebu has already hosted the same event in July 26, 1993 with a repeat seven years later, in 2000 and Roa said DoT 7 would like Cebu to roll out the red carpet once more for the MICE Conference next year.

Subic Bay-The Philippines conference on meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE), which ended here yesterday, successfully reinforced Subic Bay Freeport's bid to become a regional and international destination for such tourism-related activities.

More than 300 delegates to the first Philippine MICE Conference (MICECON) 2010 from all over the archipelago and across the world took notice of the freeport's complete facilities, which are even undergoing further improvements up to the next three years.

Welcoming the guests at the Friday's opening of MICECON 2010, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza said the Freeport hosted more than 100 MICE events in 2009 and hopes to do more this year.

Arreza said the MICE sector accounted for a significant share of the freeport's 4 million visitors last year, 60,000 of them were participants in the over 100 MICE events held at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC).

The SBECC was he venue of the MICECON 2010, which ended yesterday. With a total floor area of 12,000 square meters and a theater capacity of 10,000 people, the SBECC is far the country's biggest convention facility.

The SBECC will also be the venue for the convention of the Asia Pacific Int'l League of Guam on Feb. 18 with 500 foreign and local delegates, the Government Association of certified Public Accounts in march with around 6,000 participants, and the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines in October with 1,000.

Last month, the SBECC hosted the MICE events of the Coca Cola and Couple's for Christ with a combined attendance of 5,000.

Complementing the SBECC are Subic's almost 2,000 hotel rooms, with another 2,000 to be built over the next two years, according to Arreza.

In his keynote speech, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano lauded Arreza and the SBMA for their "generous" contribution to the national effort to make the Philippines a MICE hub in this part of the world.

Globally, the MICE market is estimated to be woth more than $3 billion of which is being targeted by the Department of Tourism, which is grooming selected parts of the country as alternative MICE destinations outside of Manila.

Among these alternative destinations is Subic, whose whopping $5.9-billion tourism receipts included revenues from MICE events.

"The staging of MICECON 2010 in Subic is intended to develop and market the North as another international MICE destination outside Manila" Durano earlier said.

MICECOn 2010 also brings guests around the Freeport and along the sSubic-Clark corridor, including Balanga town in Bataan, now a popular destination for birdwatching.

The tour highlights Subic's complete amenities for MICE activities as these also complement those of its neighboring localities.

Subic Bay Stakes Claim to Mice Market
* Published: 8/02/2010 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: Business

A former medical equipment storage warehouse converted into a convention and exhibition centre in a mere six months is playing a critical role in helping this former US military base become a major player in the Philippines' travel and tourism promotion efforts.

The centre last week played host to more than 350 delegates at MICECon 2010, the Philippines' annual caucus of meeting, incentivs, convention and exhibition organisers, and will soon host 6,000 Filipino accountants for their annual convention.

"Last year more than 100 events were hosted with 60,000 participants. It's a good start for us. We are not yet a major destination but I believe we can start small and slowly expand," said Armand Arreza, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator.

Mr Arreza said convention delegates are pouring an estimated US$10-12 million into the local economy in direct expenditure on hotels, food, shopping and visiting attractions.

The convention centre itself used to be the warehouse of a Taiwanese company that made medical equipment and clothes.

According to Mr Arreza, the SBMA had bid a year earlier to host the 2007 Philippines' annual advertising congress. Nine months before the event, it had no convention centre and was planning to erect a large makeshift tent. But six months before the advertising congress, the Taiwanese company went bankrupt and offered the warehouse for sale. That proved to be a stroke of luck; the warehouse was fixed up well enough to host the congress.

Since then, it has undergone another $8 million worth of refurbishments, helping to promote the area as a viable Mice destination. The ad congress returned last year and the SBMA is pitching to bring it back again in 2011.

Already well equipped with an international airport that attracts healthy low-cost and charter airline traffic, Subic Bay now has 2,000 hotel rooms with another 1,000 due over the next three years. A new expressway has put it within a smooth two-hour drive from Manila.

"The story of Subic Bay continues to evolve," Mr Arreza said. "We were not even on the radar screen but now, top executives of major multinationals are coming here for conventions and planning major investments of their own in warehouses and logistics centres. This former warehouse has paid remarkable dividends."

Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano, said he hoped MICECon would help the country's convention sector gain the focus it needs to start attracting business from around Asia-Pacific.

He said budgetary constraints had forced the Department of Tourism to "resist the temptation to try to do everything and then end up doing nothing. ... We disciplined ourselves and decided to focus our efforts on specific markets, and then develop the products suited to those markets."

Indeed, the Philippines' tourism industry fared well last year, one of the few destinations to record growth in both domestic and international visitors.

According to Tourism Undersecretary Oscar Palabyap, international arrivals rose from 1.09 million in 2008 to 1.12 million in 2009. The top markets were South Korea (19.89%), followed by Japan (12.19%), the US (11.55%), Europe (10.70%) and China (6.93%).

Developing air access is a key strategy. In the past year, charter flights have emerged between Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou direct to Kalibo and Cebu by Shanghai Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air China and Philippine Airlines. China Airlines also links Taipei and Kaohsiung to Kalibo and Laoag. New air services agreements have also been signed with 13 other countries including Thailand.

Mr Palabyap said new Tourism Enterprise Zones were also attracting investments. Roughly $773 million worth of tourism projects were endorsed in 2009, with 15,567 projected jobs. Of the total, $617 million went into the TEZs, $80.6 million to hotels, $39.8 million in spas and $23.4 million in resorts.

As well, he said, the new Tourism Act would clearly delineate the responsibilities of state agencies and improve co-operation with the private sector in formulating marketing and development plans.

Imtiaz Muqbil is executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire, an e-mailed feature and analysis service focusing on the Asia-Pacific travel industry.

Tourism leaders from around the world are coming over for the Philippine MICE Conference (MICECON) 2010 slated at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on Feb. 4 to 7.

"Most of them will speak and discuss the current market situation and the enormous business opportunities for the global and local MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry," said MICECON chairman and Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Edu Jarque Jr.

"Thus, MICECON 2010 is a must-join event for our country's MICE players and the rest of the tourism industry since it will highlight the world's best practices in this field and the various activities that our foreign counterparts do to take advantage of this $300-billion global market," Jarque explained.

Among the Tourism and MICE Leaders in this 4-day event are Pacific Asia Travel Association chief executive officer Gregory Duffel, World Tourism Organization consultant and former Tourism Secretary Mina S. Gabor, Web in Travel producer and SHY Ventures editor-at-large Yeoh Siew Hoon, International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) CEO Martin Sirk of The Netherlands, Malaysia-based Asian Overland Services group managing director Anthony Wong, and UK-based Regent Exhibitions managing director Paul Flackett.

Travel Impact Newswire executive editor Imtiaz Muqbil, Singapore's MCI Group president Robin Lokerman, Business Events Council of Australia CEO Elizabeth Rich, Pacific Dental Federation secretary general Dr. Oliver Hennedige, ICCA Asia Pacific Regional director Noor Ahmad Hamid, Bangkok's The Winning Edge founder and managing director Bert Van Walbeek and Asia Congress Events Co. Ltd managing director Marcel Ewals.

Wildlife Asia managing partner Catherine McNabb, Business Strategies Group Asia Pacific managing director Mark Cochrane, Singapore's Abacus International vice president for marketing Brent Henry, Singapore's Circos Brand Karma chief executive officer Morris Sim, and Japan's Mile Post Consultants president and managing director Fumihiro Sakakibara.

China's MICE magazine publisher David Zhong, USA's World Incentive Nexus director Jim Skiba, Japan's JTB Business World Tokyo Corporation Hisashi Ichikawa, Australia's Limetree Consulting Managing Director Sharon Hannaford, and India's Kuoni Travel Group vice president Aslam Siwani, among many others.

Organized by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and its marketing arm, the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC), MICECON 2010 includes an Amazing M.I.C.E Race, MICE Leaders Forum, Educational Tracks for MICE Mates, MICE Market Seminars, Business Networking, and MICECON bid presentations of future MICECON Hosts.

Constituting the M.I.C.E. Educational Tracks are presentations on Convention and Association Management by the PCVC, Incentive Travel by the Movement of Incentive Travel Executives (MITE), Exhibition Management by the SMX Convention Center and the Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS), and Events Management by the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA).

Conference convenor and PCVC Deputy Executive Director Rosvi C. Gaetos said the event would help local industry players raise their bar of expertise and capabilities in the field of Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events/ Exhibitions and trigger the development of support infrastructure in potential MICE areas other than Manila.

Records from the PCVC show the country hosting an average of 150 MICE events each year.

MICECON 2010 is also supported by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippine Airlines, Philippine Tourism Authority, Province of Cebu, City of Balanga, Victory Liner, Islands Philippines, Primer Group of Companies / (Recreational Outdoor Exchange) ROX, WOW Jeepney Tours, Clark Development Corporation, Clark International Airport Corporation, Coltrans, Travellers International Hotel Group, Annset Holidays, INTAS Destinations, Yellowbird Tours, Abacus International, Smart Communications, TTG Asia, Manila North Tollways Corporation, Fontana Hot Spring Leisure Parks Hotel Sales and Marketing Association, Movement of Incentive Travel Executives, Philippine Association of Convention / Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers, and Travel Café Philippines.

More information on the MICECON 2010 can be obtained from the MICECON Secretariat (telephone numbers 5259318 loc. 233 and 5256110, email address: phil.MICEconference@gmail.com / cit@dotpcvc.gov.ph , or visit www.dotpcvc.gov.ph).

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano has virtually opened the forthcoming conference on meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) to the entire business community as he invited all members of the corporate and entrepreneurial sectors to join the event.

Durano said the Philippine MICE Conference (MICECON) 2010 would orient corporate executives and entrepreneurs on the latest trends in this field, provide them with a lineup of competent foreign and local service providers, present to them the best practices worldwide, and acquaint them with the global network of MICE experts whom they could tap, thus enabling them to optimize the benefits they could derive from staging their own MICE-related activities anywhere in the world.

"MICECON is not just for the MICE sector of the tourism industry, but for the entire business community since it revolves around a marketing tool (MICE) that is now being used extensively worldwide in pursuit of corporate and entrepreneurial objectives," Durano explained.

"In fact, these meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, or MICE, constitute a very popular below-the-line marketing and promotional vehicle that is made to run in country-specific or region-specific markets," Durano pointed out.

MICECON 2010 is slated at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on Feb. 4 to 7.
"The staging of this event (MICECON 2010) in Subic is intended to develop and market the North as another MICE destination outside Manila," Durano said.

This is the first time that a MICE event will be held north of Manila. Previous MICE events were staged in Cebu, Boracay, Davao, Bacolod and Batangas.

This is also the first time that the country's two major MICE-related events - the Philippine Incentive Marketing Conference (Phil-Incentive) and the Philippine Asia MICE Forum - are brought together to form MICECON 2010.
"Therefore, MICECON 2010 is the result of a historic tie-up among MITE (Movement of Incentive Travel Executives), PACEOS (Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers) and the DOT (Department of Tourism) and its marketing arm PCVC (Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation)," said conference convenor Rosvi C. Gaetos.

Supporting MICECON are the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA), National Association of Independent Travel Agencies Inc. (NAITAS), and many other industry groups.

Aside from the seminars, workshops and business networking activities, MICECON 2010 also includes special events in three key northern destinations - Balanga for bird watching, Subic for the main conference, and Clark for the post-tour.

MICECON's long lineup of prestigious international speakers include industry leaders and experts from around the world, according to conference chairman and Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Edu Jarque Jr.

"They will unveil their trade secrets and show the road map to this $300-billion global market," Jarque stressed.

MICECON 2010 is supported by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippine Airlines, Philippine Tourism Authority, Province of Cebu, City of Balanga, Victory Liner, Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, Islands Philippines, Primer Group of Companies / (Recreational Outdoor Exchange) ROX, WOW Jeepney Tours, Clark Development Corporation, Clark International Airport Corporation, Coltrans, Travellers International Hotel Group, Abacus International, Smart Communications, TTG Asia, Manila North Tollways Corporation, Annset Holidays, INTAS Destinations, Yellowbird Tours, Travel Café Philippines and Fontana Hot Spring Leisure Parks.

More information on the MICECON 2010 can be obtained from the MICECON Secretariat (telephone numbers 5259318 loc. 233 and 5256110, email address: phil.MICEconference@gmail.com / cit@dotpcvc.gov.ph, or visit www.dotpcvc.gov.ph).

The Philippines is targeting a respectable share of the world's $300-billion market for meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions (MICE).

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said this market could account for at least 50 million trips taken each year across the world solely for MICE purposes. "Of the $300 billion, meetings and conventions account for about $280 billion, incentive travel for $8.5 billion, and exhibitions for several billions more," Durano said.

He cited the MICE market as a stable source of foreign visitors since this sector proved to be the most resilient, or less susceptible to price fluctuations and seasonality than others, thus increasing hotel occupancies even during lean months or off season.

"Moreover, MICE visitors have higher disposable income, are large users of tourism facilities, spend up to three times more than the average tourists, require massive manpower support, boost retail sales, and increase tax revenues," Durano explained.

Duranao explained that capturing at least 1 percent of the Global MICE Market should be substantial enough in creating significant economic impact on our destination.

Records from DOT's marketing arm, the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC), show the country hosting an average of 150 international corporate conferences, meetings, and exhibitions each year.

"The global MICE industry is highly competitive that most countries continue to promote heavily in this tourism segment to capture a slice of the large and still lucratively expanding MICE pie," Durano added.

"Among the strategies are to develop more local MICE destinations other than Manila, expand total venue and room capacity, improve support infrastructure, raise industry capabilities, creativity, innovation and flare to what is being done and hone the skills of our tourism workforce, " Durano stressed.

"Such are the reasons for the staging of the Philippine MICE Conference (MICECON) at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on Feb. 4-7, 2010,' Durano pointed out.

The event, according to DOT Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions and MICECON Chairman Edu Jarque, will be the biggest for the Philippine MICE industry.

"Organized by the DOT and the PCVC, the MICECON 2010 is a revolutionary move towards the unification of major actors and players in the Philippine tourism industry to pump up the Philippine MICE sector," Jarque said.

"With the stiffer competition in the global MICE market and the slowing down of the international economy, our local industry players must get their acts together for a common agenda, continuously retool tourism frontliners through educational seminars and conferences like the MICECON 2010, and make the Philippines a choice MICE destination," Jarque stressed.

Conference Convenor Rosvi Gaetos said the MICECON 2010 evolved into a platform for the integration and strengthening of the local MICE sector by combining two major projects - the long-running Philippine Incentive Marketing Conference organized by the DOT-PCVC and the Movement of Incentive Travel Executives (MITE), and the Philippine Asia MICE Forum spearheaded by the Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS).

Supporting the MICECON 2010 are the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippine Airlines, Philippine Tourism Authority, Province of Cebu, Victory Liner, Islands Philippines, WOW Jeepney Tours, Clark Development Authority, Clark International Airport Corporation, Coltrans, Global Link, Hotel Sales and Marketing Association, National Association of Independent Travel Agencies, SMART Communications, Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc. Annset Holidays Inc, Abacus International, Philippine International Convention Center, SMX Convention Center, Team Asia, Travel Café Philippines and Fontana Hot Spring Leisure Parks.

More information on the MICECON 2010 can be obtained from the MICECON Secretariat (tel. 5259318 loc. 233, and 5256110, or visit www.dotpcvc.gov.ph).

"The MICECON 2010 can significantly help our local industry players acquire the expertise in tapping this highly lucrative global MICE market," Durano said.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has brought together the country's top tourism industry associations in a historic tie-up for the staging of the first Philippine conference on meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE) slated at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on Feb. 4 to 7.

"Such a historic tie-up speaks well of the magnitude and strategic significance of this international MICE Conference (MICECON) to our tourism industry as a whole and the potentially enormous impact of the $300-billion global MICE market on the country's economy," said DOT Secretary Ace Durano.

Conference chair and DOT Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions describes MICECON 2010 as a revolutionary move to unite the major actors and players in the Philippine tourism industry to prop up the country's MICE sector.

The tie-up, according to conference convenor Rosvi C. Gaetos, is among the Movement of Incentive Travel Executives (MITE), the Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS) and the DOT and the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC), with the support of the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA), National Association of Independent Travel Agencies Inc. (NAITAS), and many other industry groups.

"Thus, MICECON 2010 combines the long-running Philippine Incentive Marketing Conference organized by the DOT-PCVC and MITE with the Philippine Asia MICE Forum spearheaded by PACEOS," Gaetos explained.
PACEOS chair Marissa Nallana said MICECON 2010 would practically bring together the large memberships of these national industry associations and their respective international affiliates and business networks, probably making the conference this year's biggest.

Similarly, MITE and HSMA president Rose Libongco said the conference would enable the industry to look at incentive travel from a wider perspective that should now include many other activities required by the very dynamic global corporate and institutional markets.

On the other hand, NAITAS chairman Angel Ramos Bognot said MICECON 2010 would give the local-based hotel firms new insights into the global market psyche and specific needs, thus enabling them to adapt their marketing and product development efforts accordingly.

"These (market insights) are especially important to Subic, which we are grooming to become a new MICE destination," said conference co-chair Armand Arreza, administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

MICECON 2010 includes an Amazing M.I.C.E Race, MICE Leaders Forum, Educational Tracks for MICE Mates, Market Seminars, Business Networking, and MICECON 2011 bid presentations.

MICECON 2010 is supported by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippine Airlines, Philippine Tourism Authority, Province of Cebu, City of Balanga, Victory Liner, Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, Islands Philippines, Primer Group of Companies / (Recreational Outdoor Exchange) ROX, WOW Jeepney Tours, Fontana Hot Spring Leisure Parks, Clark Development Corporation, Clark International Airport Corporation, Coltrans, Travellers International Hotel Group, Abacus International, Smart Communications, TTG Asia, Manila North Tollways Corporation, Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA), Movement of Incentive Travel Executives (MITE), Philippine Association of Convention / Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS), National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS), Annset Holidays, INTAS Destinations, Yellowbird Tours, and Travel Café Philippines.

More information on the MICECON 2010 can be obtained from the MICECON Secretariat (tel. 5259318 loc. 233, and 5256110, or visit www.dotpcvc.gov.ph).