Image courtesy of Christian Te.
This afternoon, several bloggers met up with travel agents at Coffee Spot for some chit-chat about blogging, promoting Davao City, and travel in general. The meet-up was organized by Blogie Robillo. On the bloggers’ side of the room, there was Ria Jose and Andrew dela Serna of the My Davao City Team, Christian Te of Just Didn’t Make the News, and Dominic Cimafranca of Village Idiot Savant.
On the other side of the room were several travel agents from the Davao Association of Tour Operators (DATO): Edmund Israel Mayormita of Travel Advantage, Alex Divinagracia of Pacific Royal Wings, Ruben A. Neri of Surelite Travel and Tours, Pia Lourdes Paroza-Montano of ParTravel and Tours, and Dizon P. Namuag of Dizerlin Travel and Tours. (Contact information available at the end of the entry.)
Together, the group discussed the possibilities of working together to promote travel and tourism in Davao City. The bloggers gave a brief overview of blogging and their blogs, and how they can help out the tourism industry. They also answered some questions about creating, maintaining, and developing blogs. This led to a plan to have a blogging workshop by the bloggers for the travel agents.
The discussion also tackled potential x-deals, advertisement deals, and other online marketing strategies for the tour operators, and other businesses in the travel and tourism industry. There was also talk of classifying tour operators into different categories to help interested clients in choosing the appropriate operator for their needs. We also shared ideas on how to better promote Davao City and the Davao Region (and Mindanao as well) through blogs, and the internet as a whole. The meet-up also led to plans of holding similar meet-ups with other groups such as hotel operators.
Hopefully, our plans will bear fruit not just for our personal and business interests, but more so for our beloved Davao City.
The meet-up was sponsored by Ria Chaves of Coffee Spot! located at the EC Business Center, along CM Recto Avenue, Davao City. Thanks for the wonderful Penne with Olive Oil and Basil, and White and Dark Ice Blended Mocha Drink!!! I loved it!
Contact information:
Edmund Israel Mayormita
General Manager
Travel Advantage Tours Davao Co
29 J. Rizal Street, Habana Compound, 8000 Davao City, Philippines
travel_advantage@yahoo.com
Alex Divinagracia
Pacific Royal Wings
royalwings2004@yahoo.com
Ruben A. Neri
Manager
Surelite Travel and Tours
115 A. Pichon Sr. corner Bolton Street, 8000 Davao City, Philippines
surelitetravel_tours@yahoo.com
Dizon P. Namuag
Manager
Dizerlin Travel and Tours
Block 23 Stall 48, Central Market, New Pandan, National Highway, Panabo City,
8000 Davao del Norte, Philippines
dizerlin@yahoo.com.ph
dizerlintravel@amadeusph.com
Pia Lourdes Partoza-Montano
Manager
ParTravel and Tours
Santos Building, Gov. Vicente Duterte Sr. Street, 8000 Davao City, Philippines
partravel_pia@yahoo.com
The complete directory of the DATO may be downloaded at our Tours Operators and Travel Agents Page.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:13 am
[...] I am super excited because I think the partnership between us bloggers and them tour operators will be very good for our common goal to promote travel and tourism in Davao City (and the rest of Mindanao). Read more about it over at My Davao City. [...]
September 28th, 2007 at 2:42 am
[...] On My Davao City: Davao Bloggers’ Meet-Up With Travel Agents – A very productive meet-up [...]
September 28th, 2007 at 4:08 am
hi guys! how are you?
May logo na ba kayo for your business or do you need calling cards, tarpaulin, plastic IDs or brochures? We can do it for you… We are into computer graphic design and printing… just feel free to contact us: Villarta Printing Service located in Diaz Mall Bolton St., Davao City.. you can email us at villartaprintingservice@yahoo.com or contact thru mobile: 0928-7999923
October 10th, 2007 at 1:55 am
[...] & Work With Ria {October 10, 2007} How Joe Ala found Alex Divinagracia During the Davao Bloggers’ meet-up with the Davao Association of Tour Operators (DATO), oneof the questions raised by the tour operators is how effective blogs are in terms of being found on the internet. Here’s how effective it is… [...]
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:29 am
Hi! I guess I am in the right page. haha
I am an owner of a learning center here in China. I am planning to have a Summer Camp for my students. I will bring 30 of them to Davao City. They will learn English for three weeks while enjoying the any beach in Davao. Summer here will be from July to August.
With that, I need a travel agency; and I am now scouting for some favorable rates. I hope anybody here can help me.
Thanks! By the way, I am a native of Davao City.
November 5th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Hello , i was looking for websites similar to mine on about asia travel and i was directed to your post Meet-Up With Travel Agents , i must say that your post is informative – I shall bookmark and link back to you