DOT partners with malls for March 2020 nationwide sale

Major Philippine shopping malls will hold a month-long nationwide sale in March 2020, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Wednesday.

"For the first time, lahat ng malls magsasama-sama: SM, Ayala Malls, MegaWorld, VistaLand, Robinsons, SSI, Shangri-La, Powerplant Malls, lahat magsasama, lahat magkaka-one month sale [sa] March," Tourism chief Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum.

She said the initiative aims to encourage tourists to visit the country.

Puyat said the private sector has cooperated with the government in its tourism efforts and that companies have been helping individually.

"So what we decided [was] why don't you help? Let’s have this Philippine Fun Sale na sabay-sabay lahat magsa-sale nationwide, hindi lang Metro Manila," she said.

The DOT has recorded 6.8 million international visitors in the first 10 months of 2019, 15.04 % higher than the figures from the same time last year.

Most visitors came from Korea, China, the United States, Japan, and Taiwan, accounting for 4.8 million arrivals.

In a DOT statement, Puyat attributed the increased figures to "improved air connectivity, intensified marketing promotions including the refreshed 'It's More Fun in the Philippines' campaign, budding relations with other countries, as well as the growing recognition of the country's sustainable tourism advocacy." — MDM, GMA News