HSMA-PHILTOA collab - a convenient partnership

Two national associations, the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) and the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) partnership is seen as a game changer in the travel trade ecosystem and have just showcased a Travel Exchange (TravEx), one of the workable projects envisioned by them to spur domestic tourism growth in the country.

The B2B event attracted 87 hotel sellers and 115 tour operators held at the Marriotts MGBx recently.

The partnership is a frst for both HSMA and PHILTOA, which saw ft to merge their organizations together to also further help industry players afected by the pandemic recover and restart their businesses.

“We wanted it to be bigger and stronger this year considering we already took of last year. This is the perfect year to start it when every aspect is returning well and travel is very strong. The message we want to put out is that we need each other and we can function better together rather than on our own,” said Loleth So, HSMA president and area director of Sales & Marketing, Belmont & Savoy Hotel Manila (Megaworld Hotels & Resorts).

HSMA Vice President Christina S. Carreon echoed the sentiment by emphasizing the value of unity among travel and hospitality frontliners.

“We are using this platform to unite and have one voice.

We are in the recovery stage and being united is important because the market is volatile, some may push up and some will pull down. We want a high impact because everybody in tourism sufered, especially MICE stakeholders. We have to signal the good news of 2023 by being proactive and making noise, not waiting for the government to act frst.”

HSMA has 130 member hotels while PHILTOA has 432 members composed of regular and allied members.

TravEx opened the window for these agents and tour operators who, despite having their domestic packages, didn’t have access or linkages to the hotels and resorts that could promote them in the destinations.

While most tour operators cater to the corporate market, TravEx opens the opportunity for hotels to ofer their business meetings and social events packages.

According to Margie Munsayac, AHRM chair, around 10M pesos in sales were transacted last year during its launch that included multiple government accounts that

HSMA did not know about. This gumption is seen to provide added value to a HSMA and PHILTOA membership. When a member of any association mostly looks forward to attending GMMs, there is now an added interest of having a working relationship in a collaboration.

Fe-Abling-Yu, PHILTOA president, stated that the TravEx was held in a perfect venue to really get to know one another especially for those coming from the provinces.

“As an association, we really want to help our tour operators, especially those who are just starting and don’t know whom to talk to on the hotel side of things, during the pandemic, these operators really grew the local market – everybody learned to sell domestically.” Yu added.

Bullish about the cooperation, Rose Libongco, Virtus Awards chair, the collab as a prelude to a wider diversity to cover more ground to include other travel related associations like airlines as Munsayac revealed that even in International shows like ITCMA and ITB Asia, they meet Filipino buyers for the frst time.

The PHILTOA partnership and the Travel Exchange are new additions to HSMA’s annual roster of exciting activities, the most famous of which is the group’s fagship September Online Sale (S-O-S)—also established as a response to the impact of the pandemic on travel and tourism. Also coming up this year is the 9th HSMA Virtus Awards, the most prestigious recognition given to outstanding sales and marketers of the group’s member hotels and resorts.