Inside Track

The Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) inked a memorandum of agreement with The Philippine STAR, which has been tapped as the official media partner for Travel Tour Expo 2016. The biggest travel event and trade fair happens on Feb. 5 to 7 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay. Shown are (from left) PTAA treasurer and sponsorship committee head Lulu Velasco, PTAA president and organizing committee chair Maria Michelle Victoria, STAR SVP for sales and marketing head Lucien Dy Tioco and TTE 2016 organizing committee vice chair Marciano Ragaza III.

The Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), the most prestigious travel agency association in the country with more than 500 members, has inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with The Philippine STAR to make the newspaper the official media partner of the Travel Tour Expo (TTE) 2016, formalized at a signing ceremony last Jan. 7 at the Romulo Café in Jupiter St., Makati City.

The three- day event, touted as the biggest travel event and trade fair in the history of Philippine tourism, is scheduled on Feb. 5-7 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. It expects to gather a multitude of domestic tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, resorts, airlines, national tourism organizations, corporate, business and holiday travelers, as well as other stakeholders in the tourism industry. As the official broadsheet partner, The

Philippine STAR will provide exclusive coverage, bringing news and updates before, during and after the event.

Representing PTAA during the MOA signing was PTAA president and organizing committee chair Maria Michelle Victoria, vice chairman Marciano Ragaza III and sponsorship committee head Lulu Velasco while The Philippine STAR was represented by senior vice president and marketing head Lucien Dy Tioco.

The Travel Tour Expo, which was conceptualized by PTAA in 1994, aims to showcase the products and services of its members. Since then, the show has evolved into a much- awaited annual industry event covering practically all segments of the travel business, making the annual expo the biggest event for the travel and tourism industry.

Now on its 23rd year, the expo will occupy the entire SMX exhibition center: all four halls of the main floor and five function rooms on the second floor, featuring more than 300 exhibitors spread over almost 14,000 square meters of exhibition floor space and more than 750 exhibition booths.