Visa Requirements Dictating Two-thirds of Filipino’s Travel Choices

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A survey conducted by Skyscanner, a leading global travel search site, reveals that the logistics of securing visas are having a huge effect on the holiday destination choices made by Filipinos. 

Currently, Philippine passport holders can only visit 25 countries without a visa. These countries include neighboring Southeast Asian countries and some Latin America destinations such as Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Costa Rica.

According to the survey, 73% of the 1000 Filipino respondents consider visa issues before choosing their holiday destination. Only 26% of the respondents have been to two or more destinations that required a visa. When the respondents were asked to rank their top destinations are if visas were no option, they ranked America on top of the list followed by Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia.

“Right now, ASEAN passengers can just hop on and off a plane within the region without the hassle of planning months before to meet visa requirements,” Janet Ranola, Philippine Marketing Manager for Skyscanner. “There have been a lot of Filipinos traveling within the ASEAN region in the past few years because of the increased number of flights within the region offered by budget airlines and the convenience of the no-visa travel agreement in the region.” 

89% of the respondents support a single visa system across ASEAN countries to ease travel across the region. “19% of our Filipino respondents have had their visa applications rejected. With a single visa system across ASEAN countries, non-ASEAN nationals are able to travel around the region without the need to obtain a visa for each country,” Ranola added. “This would definitely boost tourism within the region.”

About Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a leading global travel search site offering a truly comprehensive, free flight search service as well as instant online comparisons for hotels and car hire. Founded in 2003, Skyscanner receives over 25 million unique visitors each month.Skyscanner is optimised worldwide and is available in 30 languages.

Skyscanner’s highly-rated free mobile apps are available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Windows 8 devices and have been downloaded over 25 million times.

The privately-owned company employs over 250 staff and has its global headquarters in Edinburgh with regional hubs in Singapore, Beijing, Barcelona and Miami.

For more information, visit the press office or company blog. 

Follow Skyscanner on Twitter @SkyscannerPH

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Visit Skyscanner website at www.skyscanner.com.ph

Singaporean Airlines Increases Baggage Allowance In All Classes

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Singapore Airlines (SIA) customers will enjoy more free checked-in baggage allowance from November 15, 2013 for all SIA and SilkAir flights. 

Checked-in baggage allowances will increase by 10kg for all classes of travel. Customers will be entitled to free baggage allowances of 50kg in Suites and First Class, 40kg in Business Class and 30kg in Economy Class.

For flights to and from the United States, where a per-piece allowance applies, customers travelling in Suites, First Class and Business Class will be entitled to check in two pieces of luggage of up to 32kg each, up from 23kg previously.

“Increasing baggage allowances across all classes of travel is in response to feedback from our customers and reaffirms our commitment to constantly enhancing customer service.” said SIA Senior Vice President for Sales & Marketing, Mr. Chin Yau Seng.

KrisFlyer Elite Gold and Star Alliance Gold members will continue to enjoy an additional 20kg of baggage allowance across all travel classes, or one extra piece of checked-in baggage when travelling to or from the United States and Brazil.

Priority Passenger Service (PPS) Club members will also continue to be entitled to double the checked-in baggage allowance in their respective class of travel.

Photo: SIA

#YolandaPH Update: Operation Blessing Begins Relief Missions in Leyte, Iloilo, Samar and Coron

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DESPITE the difficulties and perils, the disaster response teams of Operation Blessing Philippines, the humanitarian arm of CBN Asia, have already entered and have set bases in the four provinces worst hit by super typhoon Yolanda.

The Operation Blessing team confirmed television footages and newspaper acounts on the massive devastation caused by Yolanda, describing the damage to life, property, infrastructure and livelihood as unprecented.

“The extent of super typhoon Yolanda’s damage is nothing that the Philippines has ever experienced,” said Dr. Kim Pascual, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Operation Blessing Philippines.

She adds that while Philippines has experienced countless natural disasters in the past, nothing has prepared the country for the catastrophic effects of this super typhoon.

Latest death toll reported by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is now at is now at 2,275 with more than 3,500 wounded and hundreds more still missing.

Reports estimate the economic impact of the super typhoon as somewhere between $12 to $14 billion with major public infrastructures such as roads, schools and government buildings almost wiped out.

As of yesterday, Operation Blessing has already set up base in the critical areas of Tacloban, Leyte; Guiuan, Samar ; Iloilo and Coron, Palawan.

“These are four of the areas hardest hit by the multiple landfalls of Yolanda. Despite the insurmountable logistical challenges that we face, we need to act and go where we are needed so we can be a blessing to those who have lost so much,” Dr. Kim adds.

According to the report of the Operation Blessing team in Tacloban, the situation remains chaotic as many non-government organizations (NGOs) are being held at the town hall because of security threats. New People’s Army (NPA) troops are reportedly hijacking vehicles loaded with relief goods. This threat and the torrential rains, notwithstanding, the Operation Blessing team is now on ground with 3,000 packs of relief goods donated by Operation Blessing partners in Davao City and 1,200 packs of relief goods donated by Korean nationals. Part of the relief goods will be distributed to other towns in Leyte which are equally badly hit by the typhoon but have not received aid from the government and other NGOs.

The Operation Blessing team brings with them two days worth of medicines for the planned medical mission. Another Operation Blessing team will be travelling tomorrow to distribute relief goods in Ormoc and other towns.

Operation Blessing also reached Guiuan, Samar, the first town to experience Yolanda’s fury, last night after a grueling 36-hour land trip. Guiuan residents were overjoyed in seeing the Operation Blessing teamwhich was the first humanitarian group that has entered their town after the devastation brought by Yolanda.

“Almost 90% of the infrastructures, including the town hall and hospitals, were destroyed. There is no electricity, no food and no water. The closest place where residents could get food is an another town 5-hours away. The good thing here is that there is no flood and the peace and order situation is under control,” Dr. Kim said.

The Operation Blessing team has already distributed relief goods to 75 families in Barangay Poblacion and has established a tent and a vehicle van as the local base camp. SATPHONE has been transported as communication lines are still down.

In Iloilo, the Operation Blessing team has set up a base camp in the towns of Sara and Estancia and coordination with local partners has been underway to launch relief efforts in the province as soon as the aid arrives.

“The first batch of the team came four days ago and has been visiting northern towns to come up with situational assessment reports. Another batch came today to help out and look for more areas to be served outside of Iloilo to include the provinces of Roxas, Aklan and Antique,” explains Dr. Kim.

Boxes of medicines are already on the way to be used by local volunteer doctors in the medical mission that will be launched as soon as possible.

Yesterday, the Operation Blessing team arrived and set base in Coron, Palawan with relief goods transported via a private plane offered for free. The team immediately coordinated with the local government and churches for an efficient and systematic distribution of the relief goods.

The Operation Blessing is also preparing to move in to northern parts of the province, including Daanbantayan town and Bantayan Island, where Yolanda’s toppling winds made relief efforts a challenge. Medical mission will be held on Tuesday in Bantayan Island.

“Our teams report the extent of damage not just on life and property but more importantly on the spirits of our countrymen. Images of desperation, hopelessness, and despair are what our teams encounter each day. These images all the more motivate us to reach out and do more,” Dr. Kim said.

Dr. Kim expressed appreciation to the generous donors and partners of Operation Blessing as she appealed for more help and support to be able to serve more people who are now in desperate conditions.

To know more about Operation Blessing Foundation Philippines, visit www.obphil.com or this page http://obphil.com/v2/page/p/visayas-needs-your-help.

More updates of the relief mission are found in www.obphil.com/yolanda, www.facebook.com/obphil and www.twitter.com/obphil.

http://cbnasia.org/home/2013/11/yolandaph-update-operation-blessing-begins-relief-missions-in-leyte-iloilo-samar-and-coron/

HelpPH: Global donation campaign for relief, reconstruction, rehab launched

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Mobile phone users all over the world can donate via text for relief, shelter, continuing education, livelihood programs

In response to the needs of communities devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda in the Philippines, the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF) has launched HelpPH (help.ph<http://help.ph>), a global campaign for donations via mobile load to help fund programs for relief and reconstruction in partnership with international organizations, Philippine NGOs, government agencies and private companies.

Mobile phone users from over 40 countries can now directly donate to HelpPh (www.helpphilippines.ph<http://www.helpphilippines.ph>) by sending airtime load to PDRF through BayadLoad, a mobile money service of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Philippine Central Bank) for this purpose.

To contribute to HelpPh, mobile phone subscribers overseas must key-in +63-999-7-000-000<tel:%2B63-999-7-000-000> (12-digits) as the beneficiary mobile number and then send their donation  using the airtime top-up procedure of their specific mobile network operator.  The maximum amount per day is US$10.  This fund-raising program will continue until December 31, 2013.

“The unprecedented scale of the devastation inflicted by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda requires a global response.  Through HelpPh, we are providing people all over the world the means to send help to those in greatest need through a few clicks on their mobile phones,” said PDRF chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

The United Nations recently initiated a global effort to raise US$310 million for the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.  One proven channel for international donations is through mobile phones.

According to a CNN Money report, a donation via text campaign raised US$25 million four days after Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, while a donation drive for the victims in the 2010 Haiti earthquake generated over US$150 Million.

Through Philippine and international partners, funds gathered will be directly channeled to immediate relief efforts and later, to long-term recovery programs in areas of the greatest need.

For this purpose, PDRF is firming up cooperative arrangements with organizations like the Philippine Red Cross, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Caritas Manila, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Gawad Kalinga, the United States Agency for International Development and the GSMA, the global association of the mobile phone industry.

Immediate relief operations will be prioritized for remote areas not reached by mainstream relief distribution. Corporate members will be tapped to provide transport, logistics and communications support to enabletimely coordination of relief efforts by government and relief agencies.

This includes “information as relief” to provide affected communities with news and information through mobile phones, the Internet, social media and satellite TV, as well as medical relief through on-the-ground missions, telemedicine and psycho-social therapy.

Initial partners for this effort include Alagang Kapatid Foundation, Caritas Manila, PLDT-Smart Foundation, Maynilad  Water Services, Philippine Red Cross and TV5 network.

For shelter and resettlement, PDRF will work with various partners including Gawad Kalinga, Habitat for Humanity, One MERALCO Foundation and  Philippine Contractors Association (PCA).

To provide education for displaced school children, PDRF will help implement innovative learning programs, including mobile learningsystems, in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Central Visayas Institute Foundation and the GSMA.

To sustain the recovery efforts, PDRF and its partners will promote livelihood through emergency employment programs, labor-intensive projects, technical-vocational skills training and enterprise development.

Meanwhile, the microfinance sector will be tapped to help create sustainable livelihood that would give affected families a chance to start anew. Initial partners are the Philippine Business for Social Progress, ASA Philippines, CARD  MRI, Microcredit Council of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines. PDRF is also holding discussions with the United Nations-International Labor Organization and Oxfam to pursue collaborative efforts in these areas.

Through its mobile money subsidiary, Smart has partnered with four leading global mobile airtime transfer companies that include Transfer To, Tranglo,  www.ezetop.com<http://www.ezetop.com>, and Aryty, which together cover more than 250 partner mobile network operators in 90 countries, serving 5.9 billion mobile subscribers, 60 percent of whom, or about 3.6 billion, are prepaid users.

These operators are in countries such as Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, United Kingdom,Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the Vatican City, among others.

PDRF was organized in 2009 following the devastation caused by Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy and is made up of major private sector companies and leading NGOs.

It is one of the three identified institutional conduits approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine Red Cross. To learn more about this, please visit help.ph<http://help.ph>. 

Globe Business Head Martha Sazon: Building partnership with Filipino SMEs

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Globe Business – Small and Medium Business Group Head Martha Sazon believes that a true partnership with SMBs means acquiring the same visionary perspective that entrepreneurs have. This, she says, is all-important because the business solutions they offer are meant to help fulfill each SME’s vision for the future.

“Here at Globe Business, what we are really offering SMEs are the tools to make their visions a reality. Every business starts out as a dream, as a vision of what could be. Does the client envision a chain of retail shops? Or is the vision about exporting Filipino delicacies to an  overseas Filipino community?

“What we’re telling SMEs is this: ‘You’ve already envisioned the future. You already saw the possibilities. Now, let us, let Globe Business help you make those possibilities come true—and even help you discover new possibilities to come.’ That is what our partnership with SMEs is all about,” said Martha Sazon, Head of Globe Business. Sazon, whose background includes top sales and marketing positions in multi-national companies before joining Globe Telecom, is in full-throttle when it comes to implementing the goals of Globe Business for SMEs.

Her priority nowadays, she said, is the completion of various upgrades to the existing Globe Business Plans and offers for SMEs.

The present thrust of the upgrades in Globe Business services and products for SME’s is threefold:  a) Customization; b) Cost-effectiveness; and c) Value Added offerings.  

Globe Business plans, like the My Best Ever Globe My Super Plan for Business, all have a suite of features and services that an entrepreneur can mix-and-match to suit his needs. Does he need unlimited mobile Internet to do business?  Is he more reliant on text messaging? Or do his business partners prefer mostly voice communications?

Globe Business plans are also cost-effective. They are available in a range of postpaid and pre-paid plans that fit an entrepreneur’s budget.  “We really go out on a limb to ensure that we keep our plans affordable while still empowering entrepreneurs with maximum features they need,” said Sazon.

Then there’s the Value-Added part of Globe Business thrust for the SME market. Sazon explained that they achieve this by offering booster features and services and by bundling plans with the latest, state-of-the art gadgets.

“Our plan boosters add services and features to an SME’s existing plan. All that’s needed is a minimal top-up fee to their regular monthly fee. These boosters may include unlimited voice calls, texts, or mobile Internet services.  As for the gadgets, we make sure that we offer only the best gadgets that they can use as business tools: state-of-the-art, reliable, multi-functional, and of course, always connected to the wireless communications grid, including mobile Internet. We also make it very easy to get gadgets on an installment basis or at great discounts. We do all of these because we take our commitment to SME’s very seriously. We are their partners and their growth and success is our mission,” she said.

Learn more about Globe Business as a preferred solutions provider for SMEs. Consult a Globe Business Account Manager; visit a Globe Store near you, log-on to www.business.globe.com.ph/onlinestore or call (02) 730-1010.

About Globe Business – SG

The Small and Medium Business Group of Globe (SG) is the primary enabler of small and medium business enterprises, delivering solutions that create competitive advantage. Backed by strong leadership and a world-class network, it empowers small and medium businesses every step of the way, through solutions that are anticipated and delivered the way they want them.