Meet the new PTAA board of trustees

In January, the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) welcomed its 22nd president in long time board of trustee (BOT) member Marlene Jante.

During the PTAA’s first general membership meeting at the start of the year, current Travel Tour Expo Chairperson Maria Michelle-Reyes Victoria handed the reins of the association to Jante and the new 11man BOT.

Jante, in assuming the PTAA presidency, said that leading the association is both a big challenge and an opportunity.

She said representing the PTAA within the country and abroad will be an honor and that she will do her best to concretize her vision for the association.

Jante said her plans for PTAA consist of continuing what her predecessor, Victoria, has started and at the same time, introduce new concepts.

“Aside from continuing projects like finding quality members, I want us to have a sort of new generation PTAA where we train younger members of the association on the intricacies of the travel and tourism industry,” Jante said.

Her other plans for the association include having more business-to-business meetings during familiarization tours to allow members to expand their contacts in different regions.

“I want to have meetings in all the regions because I want to see more collaborations. It is all about connections. Give and take so we can grow our business,” she said.

Jante, who has served in the Philippine Army in the past, promised that she will not bring her military background as president of the association because she said what they do is voluntary.

“You are not being paid in what you do for the association. We have no right to raise our voice against any other travel agent. We are all the same. The only difference is that I am here to lead the association,” Jante said.

However, she said that in whatever the direction the association goes, she wants to see everyone give their best effort and that everything they started gets done.

Jante became a board member of the PTAA in 2006 and handled positions in the programs committee and as assistant secretary general.

For her part, Victoria advised the new BOT to continue working together and create a broader sense of camaraderie among the association’s member companies.

Victoria said she believes Jante will do a good job in leading the PTAA and that as ex-officio she will continue to lend her support and guidance in all undertakings of the association.

Joining Jante in the new BOT were holdovers Evangeline Buenaventura, Rose Marie A. Caseñas, Margarette Lumauag, trustee; Danilo Cerdeña, vice president for inbound; Patria Chiong, executive vice president; Paul So, secretary general; and Merlita Teng, treasurer.

Cerdeña, Chiong, and Teng served as trustees in the outgoing board while So was the executive vice president.

The newcomers in the BOT are Rhodora Santos, vice president for outbound; Jhaytee Wong, assistant treasurer; and Jose Maria Renard Gregory Tuano, trustee.

Chiong has been in the travel and tourism industry for the last 42 years. She was with Philippine Airlines and PAL Express for 36 years and Guatson International Travel & Tours for six years.

Santos is the president and owner of Golden Sky Travel and Tours Corp. Aside from the PTAA, she is also affiliated with SKAL International and the Philippine Tour Operators Association.

Cerdeña is the general manager and owner of Blue Voyage Travel Service in Pampanga. He is also the founding president and past chairman of Pampanga Agents Travel Society (PATS). He was also a lecturer at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City.

So has been part of the tourism industry since 1975 when he became a student guide for the Youth and Student Travel Association of the Philippines. He has held top management positions with multiple travel agencies since 1980. He incorporated Action Holidays Tour Corp. in 2002 and in 2011 Great Sights Travel and Tours Corp. He is the Tourism Department head of the Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute and part time lecturer at the Philippine Women’s University.

Teng is the president and chief operating officer of YOYO Holidays Travel Services Inc. She has also worked in the financial sector as World Class Financial’s marketing director, Platinum Plans assistant vice president, and Prudential Life Plans area manager.

Wong, who is a respected businessman, is relatively new to the tourism industry but his family owns MTTS Travel Services.

Buenaventura is the owner of Manejkom Travel and Tours, a leading travel agency in Bulacan. She is a founder and former president of the Bulacan Association of Travel Agencies. She is also an active member of the Bulacan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and People Management Association of the Philippines-Bulacan Chapter.

Caseñas is the general manager of Baclayon Travel and Tours, a leading travel agency in the island province of Bohol.

Lumauag is the owner and manager of Island Paradise Tours & Convention. She is also currently a Junior Chamber International senator at its national board of directors and group chief of Regional Emergency Assistance Communications Philippines. She has also worked in the fashion and food industries and worked with the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant.

Lastly, Tuano is the general manager of Asiareps Travel Services Inc. He has 23 years experience in the airline and travel industry. He worked with various airlines starting as a reservation agent up to his last post as country manager. He also briefly worked with a global distribution systems provider.