Tourism experts showcase PH destinations as an attractive market

IN observance of the World Tourism Day, the EU – Philippines Business Network and European Chambers organized the International Tourism Day Forum that will showcase the Philippines as a promising world tourism market at Dusit Thani Manila on September 27 from 9 am to 1 pm.

The forum invited the following try and became a part of its early tourism experts. product research and development efforts, that also started her involvement in marketing and promotion.

of the Philippine Association of Health Organizations in Medical Tourism Inc. and served as a speaker in the First World Medical Tourism Congress held in San Francisco, California, USA in 2008.

Jimenez participates in local and international forums to discuss various topics in health care management, retirement and tourism. She has presented in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan. In the local level, Jimenez shares her expertise through the regional and national conferences of various groups such as the Private Hospital Association of Philippines, College of Hospital Administrators, Association of Health Maintenance Organizations of the Philippines Inc., and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

She helped organize the Global Leadership Initiatives for Sustainable Tourism, which is dedicated to sustainable tourism development advocacy.

ROSANNA TUASON-FORES President Tourism Congress Philippines

The second session will be about Theme Destinations in the Philippines to be presented by Rosanna Tuason-Fores.

An entrepreneur whose employment experiences range from working in the industry of coconut plantations to business process outsourcing (BPO), Rosanna Tuason-Fores is the current president and CEO of Hijo Resources Corporation.

Fores graduated from Santa Clara University in the US and returned to the Philippines to involve herself in agribusiness. She later became the vice president for marketing of the Blue Bar Coconut and was promoted as the president at the Association of Philippine Coconut Desiccators. Fores joined the bulk of investors who helped enhanced the potential of the BPO industry in the country. As a result, one of the BPO companies she ran became a top call center company in Metro Manila.

Aside from having her second term as the president of the Tourism Congress of the Philip- pines, Fores also chairs the Telus International Philippines Community Board. She also leads the transformation of the Hijo Resources Corporation from a traditional banana plantation into a company with business units in agribusiness, logistics and port operations, property development, and tourism.

AILEEN CLEMENTE Chairman and President Rajah Travel Corporation

Aileen Clemente will also present Theme Destinations in the Philippines. Together with Tuason- Fores, Clemente will be part of the panel discussion with Javier Berenguer-Testa and Pablo Mas.

Rajah Travel Corporation Chairman and President Clemente began managing the company in 2000. Her leadership has helped in expanding the corporation’s manpower to over 250 employees. She also heads the overall operations of the company at its headquarters in Makati City.

Clemente’s commitment to the company led her to receive several awards. In 2016, she was given the Global Peace Awards for Empowered Women in Tourism, which was organized by the International Institute for Peace. She is the only Filipina to have earned the said award. In 2012, she was honored by the Amadeus Industry Leaders Award, which was followed by a recognition from the SKAL Makati Travel Agency Personality in 2015.

Currently serving as the executive vice president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, Clemente is a member of the Commission on Higher Education Technical Committee for Hotel and Restaurant Management and Tourism. She has worked as the president of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Tourism Association from 2014 to 2016, and carried the same position under the Philippine Travel Agencies Association, Philippine International Air Transport Association ( IATA) Agents Travel Association.

As a resource speaker in tourism, Clemente regularly participates in seminars and forums both in local and international level. She joined the Advancing Philippine Competitiveness Project of the United States Agency for International Development, the Arangkada Philippines Forum of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines, as well as different projects under the Department of Tourism.

For the third session, speakers Erhan Balaban and Dave Pimentel will talk about the Disruption and Opportunity in the Toruism Industry.

ERHAN BALABAN General Manager Turkish Airlines

Erhan Balaban currently serves as the general manager of the Turk- ish Airlines in the Philippines. He has worked as the chairman for Country Steering Committee under the Star Alliance Philippines and as a commercial manager for Turkish Airlines in Japan. In 2014, he was the marketing specialist for sales and marketing transactions for America and Northern Europe at the Turkish Airlines headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey.

He studied Economics at the Anadolu University in Turkey and earned his master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Wales Cardiff Institute in the United Kingdom.

DAVE PIMENTEL Director of E- Commerce Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila

Dave Pimentel is the director of E- Commerce of Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila. He started his career selling website advertising spots on GMA 7 Network’s news and entertainment portal before landing a role as an Account Manager in Yehey Digital Group, one of the pioneer digital advertising agencies in the country. During his time in Yehey, he was able to hone his skills and knowledge by handling digital campaigns of several multinational and local brands. He then moved on to head the Digital Marketing team of SM Supermalls for almost three years before joining the # SofitelManila team in September 2014.