Siargao Participates in Arabian Travel Market 2023 in Dubai
The Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2023 welcomed the global travel, tourism and hospitality community to the United Arab Emirates on May 1 to May 4 in its 30th edition, hosting over 2,000 exhibitors, representatives from more than 150 countries and 34,000 attendees, making it one of the biggest travel exhibits in the Middle East.
Held in Dubai World Trade Center, the ATM 2023 featured the theme “Working Towards Net Zero,” providing a forum for participants to forge new connections, share knowledge and showcase innovations with the potential to expedite the global travel sector’s journey.
Among the participating countries, the Philippine delegation boasted of Siargao, Surigao del Norte, among others, as one of its exhibitors. Surigao del Norte 1st District Rep. Francisco Jose Matugas who pitched Siargao to foreign investors and international media commended the inclusion of Siargao Island in the prestigious travel market.
“The inclusion of Siargao Island in the Arabian Travel Market is a boost to our efforts to rise from the effects of the pandemic and the recent calamities that hit the island and the province of Surigao del Norte,” Matugas said in a statement on Wednesday, May 3.
Matugas furthered that Siargao’s participation as part of the Philippine delegation is a source of great pride for the people of Siargao Island and Surigao del Norte. With the reopening of major international events in Siargao including surfing and game fishing competitions after a considerable halt brought by the pandemic in 2000, tourism in Siargao, Surigao del Norte is starting to take a steady footing and the ATM 2023 will certainly help cement things in place.
The Philippine delegation was headed by Department of Tourism (DOT) Undersecretary Shereen Gail Uy-Pamintuan, Tourism of the Philippines Board’s Chief Operating Officer Maria Margarita Montemayor Nograles, and other lawmaker representatives from Batangas, Bohol, Cebu, and Quezon City and private sector companies.
