As part of its recovery efforts for the travel and tourism industry, two of the country’s biggest travel trade associations, Hotel Sales and Marketing (HSMA) and the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) sealed a partnership to launch the first staging of Travel Exchange 2023 .

To be held from March 28-29, 2023 at the MGBx of the Manila Marriott Hotel, the Travel Exchange, a B2B event designed to be this year’s largest platform for hotels, resorts, theme parks, tour operators, and agencies, is seen to boost the domestic and inbound tourism.

In this year’s edition, the Travel Exchange will see HSMA’s over 87 properties engaging in tabletop business with over 100 of PHILTOA regular and allied members.

“Our membership is basically nationwide; be it a business hotel or a leisure resort, we have that in our portfolio. In PHILTOA, they have all sorts of travel agents  and tour operators that cater to different markets, and I think it’s such an opportune time for this partnership because the global market is starting to breathe again,” said Loleth So, HSMA president and area director of Sales & Marketing, Belmont & Savoy Hotel Manila (Megaworld Hotels & Resorts).

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

“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 in the hotel side of things,” said Fe Abling-Yu, PHILTOA President.

The PHILTOA partnership and the Travel Exchange are new additions to HSMA’s annual roster of activities. The well-known of which is the group’s flagship September Online Sale (S-O-S) that 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, a prestigious recognition given to outstanding sales and marketers of the group’s member hotels and resorts.