The province of Palawan, represented by the Provincial Government and Palawan Tourism Council, is partnering with AirAsia Philippines, the Filipino Low Cost Carrier that flies hand in hand with AirAsia, voted the World’s Best Low Cost Airline for six consecutive years by Skytrax, to draw more and more tourist both foreign and domestic to Palawan’s over 1, 700 islands.
During the formal launch held at the Provincial Capitol last March 4, Palawan Governor Jose “Pepito” Alvarez said, “This is Public-Private Partnership in action, where all the stakeholders share a common goal in increasing tourist arrivals in Palawan.”
Alvarez also lauded the partnership as a “good example of unity and strong collaboration among all the major players in tourism” and that every province should adopt as part of Visit Philippines 2015 campaign program.
Aside from providing year-round low fares, AirAsia is also partnering with local hotels and tour operators to bring them to Manila and around the country for a series of travel expos and promotional activities for Palawan.
Home to natural wonders acclaimed globally, Palawan was hailed the world’s best island in the Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards in 2014. The province topped the survey, besting other renowned island destinations such as Hawaii, Mozambique, Australia, and Greece.
Palawan’s tourism jewels, El Nido and Honda Bay, were also named the “Most Beautiful Island Beach” and “Best Island Beach for Swimming and Snorkeling,” respectively in February 2015.
For her part, AirAsia Zest CEO Joy Cañeba said, “It’s a shared vision for all of us to bring tourism into Palawan. Palawan is known for delivering world- class service as a world-class tourist destination and as a regional airline with massive connectivity across all Asean countries including China, Australia and India, it’s just fitting that this partnership come to life.”
AirAsia has increased frequencies for Manila-Puerto Princesa City route from 3x to 5x daily starting 29th March 2015 with promo fares from as low as P1,099 base fare only for guests traveling now until 10th June 2015.
World’s Best Island program is supported by the Department of Tourism and the United States Agency for International Development under its Advancing Philippine Competitiveness project (USAID-COMPETE).