The country’s promotions effort has generated a record-high PHP11.3 billion in tourism sales lead last year, said the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB).

TPB chief operating officer Maria Margarita Nograles said this is a 44.8 percent growth from the sales lead in 2023 and attributed it to the Marcos administration’s overall push to offer tourists authentic and experiential travel in the Philippines.

“Last year, we hit our biggest sales leads ever in the agency at 11.3 billion just from our trade shows. So, this year, what we would like to do is really craft unique and world-class experiences and authentic experiences into the Philippines—that is our focus,” she told reporters during the TPB Pasasalamat in Intramuros on Monday.

Nograles said the TPB, which handles promotions for the country’s 13 key tourist markets, had been seeing “interest around the world to come to the Philippines”.

The TPB, she said, is also gearing up to further enhance its presence in the Arabian Travel Mart as the country seeks to draw more inbound tourists from the Middle East.

“We cannot lose presence in Dubai, at the Arabian Travel Mart, we cannot. So, we have budget, we will enhance our presence there,” she said.

On top of overseas trade shows, the TPB also sustains its domestic promotions, including through its community-based tourism program.

Nograles also assured that the TPB provides an equal amount of promotions to all Philippine destinations, including the already popular Boracay Island.

“We are focused and following the direction of our secretary that we are to give equal promotions to all our destinations, and let us not forget Boracay is an award-winning island, so we continue on promoting Boracay,” she said.

This year alone, the TPB generated PHP436 million in sales leads at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2025 Travel Exchange (TRAVEX), held from Jan. 15 to 17 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

These figures represent an 8.38 percent increase from last year’s participation. (PNA)