All Systems Go for the 8TH ACGTDT

LOS ANGELES – With barely two weeks to go  before the 8th Ambassadors, Consuls General and Tourism Directors Tour (ACGTDT) to the Philippines,   the Department of Tourism’s Promotions Board shifts to high gear as they prepare to welcome  tour participants coming from various consular posts in Canada and the United States.
This year a total of 489 participants will join the Philippine ambassadors, consuls general and tourism directors in the United States and Canada in a tour to selected tourist destinations in the Philippines.
The highest number of participants comes from Honolulu, Hawaii with 106, closely followed by Los Angeles with 102 participants. San Francisco comes in third with a total of 76 participants.  The rest of the participants come from different consular posts namely, Guam, Chicago, New York, and Washington D.C., in the United States and Winnepeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton in Canada.
A tour of Malacanang Museum, a meeting and photo session with President Benigno S. Aquino III, and lunch at the historic Heroes Hall in Malacanang on July 11 will highlight the four-day tour.
Other fun and exciting activities lined up include:  a tour of the cities of Manila and Makati with visits to Ayala Museum, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, University of Santo Tomas Museum; a visit and tour to the country’s premier television stations; Intramuros Tour (Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church and Bahay Tsinoy); a tour of Calamba, Cavite, and Tagaytay; wreath-laying  ceremony at Rizal Park, dinners with cultural show and entertainment.
After the basic tour, exciting optional tours are also available from July 12 to 15 to any of the following destinations:  Laoag-Vigan, Cagayan de Oro-Camiguin, Davao, Camarines Sur-Legaspi, Cebu-Bohol, Iloilo-Bacolod, Aklan-Boracay, Puerto Princesa-Palawan and Southern Luzon Golf Tour.
Palawan and  Boracay  remains the topped tourist drawer and the preferred post tour destinations for the participants.  Puerto Princesa, Palawa’s underground river is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the 7 wonders of the new world, while Boracay was recently named one of the 15 hottest destinations for 2013 by the influential Travel + Leisure magazine, and China Morning Post finding it the “Most Romantic Destination.”
Since it was first launched in 2005, the ACGTDT has been a consistent success, and has attracted thousands of participants from various cities in the United States.
The ACGTDT is a joint project of all Philippine Foreign Service Posts in the US, namely: Agana, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Saipan, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., in cooperation with the Philippine Department of Tourism, the Tourism Promotions Board and the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry.
The ACGTDT was specifically organized to give those who have not been to the country for sometime to revisit the homeland and experience the beauty of the country’s top tourist destinations.