MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is throwing its full support behind the Philippines’ bid to host the Fรฉdรฉration Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) men’s Volleyball Championship in 2025.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco expressed this support on Friday (Feb. 29) during a briefing initiated by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) and various public and private stakeholders from the sporting and volleyball community, upon the invitation extended by Senator Pia Cayetano.
Senator Cayetano, a former national volleyball player herself and a strong advocate for Filipino athletes, welcomed Secretary Frasco’s participation, saying that “(Secretary) Christina (Garcia) Frasco is a very important part of this journey, I’m so happy you accepted.โ
“๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ [๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ] ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ,” she added.
In her message, the DOT chief emphasized that such hosting of an international sporting event will present massive opportunities to promote Philippine tourism.
โ๐๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ท๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ, ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด,โ Secretary Frasco said.
Under Secretary Frasco’s leadership, the DOT has actively promoted sports tourism by backing major events like the Iron Man Philippines: Rock n Roll Manila, M5 World Championship, and FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023โwhich received a record-breaking attendance of 38,115.
Heeding the directive of the President, the DOT extended its full support in ensuring the countryโs successful hosting of the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year, by way of providing airport arrival lanes and rondalla performances to give the 1,168 delegates the distinct Filipino welcome; enhancement of VIP rooms for distinguished FIBA guests; conduct of VIP tours among delegates; formation of a tourism consortium for tour packages, and provision of training for volunteers of the FIBA Basketball World Cup on the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence (FBSE) program, among others.
PNVF President Ramon Suzara delivered the opening remarks and presented the preparations being made in relation to the countryโs bid, including prospective venues, hotels, and training areas for participants.
โ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐บ, ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ,โ Suzara enthused.
Mr. Finn Taylor, Chief Business Officer of Volleyball World, noted the significance of the FIVB World Championships events.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ. ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ,” Taylor said, adding that he considers the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) event last year at the Mall of Asia Arena was one of the “most significant events” in the league’s calendar.
“๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ’๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ช๐ข ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ 14 ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด, ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Guido Betti, CEO of Volleyball World, expressed his optimism for the Philippines’ successful bid for the FIVB men’s World Championships. “Last year was an amazing success. We really were overwhelmed by what happened, and as being said, players are happy to come back because they how they really received the loveโreally the love from the people here was uniqueโthey really felt probably something that all the volleyball players are dreaming for,โ Betti said.
Also present at the meeting are Mr. Richard Bachmann, Chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC); PNVF Secretary General Donaldo Caringal; PNVF Executive Director Kyle Principe; PNVF Head of Operations Antonio Carlos; PNVF Marketing Head Raoul Floresca; Philippine Olympic Committee Secretary General Atty. Wharton Chan; FIVB Director for Asia and Oceania Luis Alexander; United Promotions Inc. Chief Operating Officer Irene Jose; Cignal TV Inc. VP for Channels & Content Sienna Olaso; The Sports Consultancy Senior Consultant Hannah Seymour; and Mr. Arnel Gonzales, Representative of Mall of Asia Arena.
With Secretary Frasco in the meeting were DOT Director for Film and Sports Tourism Roberto Alabado III, Head Executive Assistant Glenn Albert Ocampo, and representatives from the TPB Philippines MICE Department. (PR)
