It's Saturday again! Of course, we had another interesting episode for our Vigattin Radio Program. Our guests were Ms. Fe Abling Yu, Vice-President for Inbound of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA); Mr. Jay Fajardo, Founder and CEO of Proudcloud and Program Director of Launchgarage; and Mr. Norris Jay Perez, Founder of Apptivate.
Tourism in the Philippines
It is the main concern of the PTAA to help boost our country's tourism, which is also one of the primary thrusts of our Philippine government. The past few years have been very successful for our tourism industry because a lot of foreigners frequent the country for business and leisure. Even Filipinos are now more keen into spending their vacations here in the Philippines rather than abroad. With various affordable tourist destinations to go to, it's no wonder that even low- to middle-class earners can spend a worthwhile getaway without hurting their budgets.
A healthy tourism industry in a local area means a higher employment rate for the community, a greater chance of finding investors, and a more dynamic place for establishments and businesses. Tourism is a whole ecosystem of travelers, business owners, and tourist spots keepers in which everybody benefits from each other. Even students learn a big deal in the country's natural treasures. A holistic view to our tourism industry can definitely help our nation's economy.
The PTAA is a self-regulating body that coordinate with different agencies and establishments to provide travelers a smooth tour of the Philippines. Travel agencies that are members of the PTAA are guaranteed to give an honest service as compared to bogus and fly-by-night travel agencies. The PTAA really aids the Department of Tourism in promoting the beauty of the Philippines.
Launchgarage and Apptivate
As a serial tech entrepreneur himself, Sir Jay Fajardo is fond of helping tech startups through the accelerator program Launchgarage. In partnership with Kickstart Ventures, Launchgarage provides extensive mentoring to chosen startups on their way to success. One of the groups in the Launchgarage program is Apptivate, an application that lets non-credit card holders buy in the iTunes App Store with just their SMS load. This application has surely revolutionized online and mobile payment system and developed an easier and more accessible one.
We are looking forward to more of these innovative startups that will make a great impact to our everyday living in this digital age. I hope there will be more applications that are relevant to different sectors and industries like tourism, health, environment, and education.
Full recorded livestream: