KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato (PIA)—The Department of Tourism (DOT) is embracing tourism digitalization and has partnered with the online booking application Klook.ph to attract young travelers.
During the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas with the Philippine Information Agency, regional DOT officials reported that SOCCSKSARGEN tour packages will soon be available on Klook.ph for local and international tourists.
“The Department of Tourism has a strategic alliance with Klook.ph, and I’m proud to say that SOCCSKSARGEN will be featured there in a few months,” said DOT Regional Director Nelia Arina.
“We invited two tour operators from SOCCSKSARGEN to enroll our tour packages so that people from outside the Philippines wanting to visit the region will have a ready package when they want to visit,” she added.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) and Klook Philippines forged a partnership earlier this year to digitally enhance Philippine tourism, focusing on the DOT’s Philippine Experience Program (PEP).
This collaboration aims to make the country’s diverse attractions more accessible by featuring curated PEP tour packages on Klook’s platform.
This partnership, Arina added, emphasizes the digitalization of the Philippine tourism sector, aligning with the National Tourism Development Plan’s focus on digital innovation, sustainability and inclusivity.
By leveraging Klook’s extensive online platform, the DOT seeks to broaden its reach to domestic and international travelers, simplifying and allowing them to personalize travel planning and promoting the Love the Philippines campaign.
Arina also highlighted other projects supporting digitalization, such as the Tourist Assistance Call Center.
She reported that the Tourist Assistance Call Center received 13,872 call transactions across all touch points from 72 countries, excluding the Philippines.
She also urged the public to download the enhanced travel.ph app, where interested travelers can view all regions and choose DOT-accredited destinations, including contact numbers for tourism-related enterprises.
“We can now easily communicate anywhere with anyone, thanks to travel.ph, a mobile phone application for the young and the young at heart,” she said.
DOT reported that the travel.ph app recorded 71,369 downloads from domestic and international travelers from October 2023 to October 2024. (SZT, PIA Region 12)
