Poles reading the Philppine fun map from the Polish version of the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” brochure

Mr. Marcin Sado (extreme right) of Opal Travel volunteered to promote the Philippines as a tourist destination to his compatriots

VuQo (Philippine coconut-based vodka) - tasting session draws Poles to the Philippine booth

Mr. Sado answering questions from Poles interested in travelling to the Philippines

L to R: Attache Mr. Ramon Ebalo, staff Ms. Maria Hruzetska , Mr. Marcin Lewandowski, Account Manager of “Meet the Bidder,” Ambassador Patricia Ann Paez, and Attache Mr. Jose Magaso at the Philippine booth

In line with the “Visit ASEAN Year 2017” and the Department of Foreign Affairs’ economic diplomacy program, the Philippine Embassy in Poland, participated in the International Tourism Fair organized by PTAK Warsaw Expo from 20 to 22 October 2017.

The Embassy set up a Philippine booth whose main panels featured the Chocolate Hills of Bohol. Throughout the three-day fair, the videos of “it’s More Fun in the Philippines” by apl.de.app and Philippine “kundiman” music were played at the Philippine booth which drew an estimated 1,600 people. This was based on the total number of brochures of the Polish version of “It’More Fun in the Philippines” which was given to each visitor.

As part of its cultural diplomacy program, the Embassy also gave CDs of the “kundiman” music to Philippine booth visitors and souvenir bags maked “Philippines” to those who showed very keen interest in visiting the Philippines, through the inquiries they made. The Embassy staff also gave demonstrations on how to dance the “tinikling.”

The Embassy also promoted Philippine dried mangoes and the Philippines‘ coconut-based vodka with the VuQo brand by offering vodka-tasting “sessions.” Some of those who sampled the VuQO wanted to buy the promotional bottles.

Mr. Marcin Sado of Opal Travel volunteered his help to the Embassy in promoting the Philippines which was very important because the national as well as official language in Poland is Polish. It is worth recalling that Mr. Sado participated in the first-ever Familiarization Tour to the Philippines in 2014 by the Polish Chamber of Tourism.

Other ASEAN countries which participated in the fair were Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Aside from Malaysia, all of these countries have embassies in Warsaw. The “mission” of the “International Tourism Fair and World Travel Show” is the “promotion of countries and regions of the world to Polish tourists and the presentation of companies with tourism-related businesses, the integration of the tourism business environment, and the creation of a new standard for tourism fair.” The Fair is also a platform to establish business relations, acquire new clients, and to discover unknown or emerging “markets”/destinations.

A Pole tries out the “tinikling;” looking on are Attache Mr. Ebalo and staff Ms. Hruzetska

Volunteers Ms. Sylwia Lisowska and Mr. Mariusz Dudzicki informing Poles about the different tourist attractions in the Philippines

DOT poster of the emerging new icon of Philippine culture- the VuQo vodka; Attache Mr. Ebalo manned the vodka-tasting “station”

Taking a photo of the VuQo promotional poster after tasting the Philippine-produced vodka