𝗗𝗢𝗧 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟮𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼!

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and Travel Madness Expo (TME) Chairperson and Travel Innovators, Inc. President Maria Paz Alberto led the official opening of the much-anticipated Travel Madness Expo 2025 on yesterday at the SMX Convention Center.

Now in its 12th edition, this year’s expo embraces the theme “A Dozen Reasons to Travel the World,” showcasing an incredible array of over 250 exhibitors—from National Tourism Organizations to airlines, hotels, cruise lines, travel agencies, theme parks, insurance companies, food vendors, and retail outlets—making it one of the largest travel and trade expos in the country.

In her keynote address, Secretary Frasco emphasized the power of collaboration in driving the growth of tourism in the Philippines, saying the gathering reflects a shared aspiration, not only to promote travel, but to uplift lives across the industry. “𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺—𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴,” she said citing the Philippine Statistics Authority’s latest data indicating that tourism contributes nearly 9% to the country’s GDP and provides employment to almost 14% of the national workforce.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴,” Secretary Frasco added.

TME Chairperson Alberto echoed this message of resilience and revival, expressing her belief that Filipinos will always find a reason to explore, discover, and connect through travel. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺, ‘𝘸𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 7,641 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, ” she enthused.

Joining the opening ceremony were key government and industry figures, including former Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista; Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano represented by Hon. Lesley Anne Calixto Rubiano; International Air Transport Association Regional Vice President for Asia-Pacific Sheldon Hee; Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) President Arjun Shroff; NAITAS President Florence Rivera; Philippine Hotel Owners Association Executive Director Bong Benzon; SMX Convention Center Vice President and General Manager Michael Albaña.

Also present were DOT Undersecretary Ferdinand Jumapao, Assistant Secretaries Czarina Zara-Loyola and Ronald Conopio, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) Assistant COO Jetro Lozada, and other DOT officials.