The Philippines Get Ready for ATF 2006

03 January 2006 5:00am

Preparations are underway for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum (ATF) slated from January 13 to 21, 2006, local newspaper SunStar reported.

Organized by the Philippine Department of Tourism-Office of Tourism Standards, a four-day seminar for liaison officers was held last week at the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCO) “to take a crack on protocols, social graces, culture, and security.”

According to SunStar, last week´s seminar was conducted to equip liaison officers on the proper handling of dignitaries and delegates in an international event.

Also, the seminar was aimed at enhancing liaison officers´ skills on tourist reception, guiding techniques, and customer relations.

The 10 member-countries of the ASEAN (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) expect to draw over 3,000 international travel buyers.

China, Japan, Korea, Russian and Australia comprise the list of non-ASEAN countries expected to attend next year´s ATF.