Philippine Embassy officials meet with Turkey’s Minister for Culture and Tourism (MOCT) Mehmet Nuri Ersoy (Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism Photo)
ANKARA 13 October 2021 – Philippine Ambassador to Turkey, Maria Elena P. Algabre, and Turkey’s Minister for Culture and Tourism (MOCT), Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, met to discuss the strengthening of tourism and people-to-people exchanges between the Philippines and Turkey, on 12 October at the MOCT headquarters in Ankara.
The Ambassador noted the continuing cooperation initiatives between the two countries, even during the pandemic. In anticipation of the easing of travel restrictions, the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) and Turkish Airlines held online and physical events in 2021 to promote the tourist destinations of the Philippines. For its part, the Philippine Embassy, with the support of DOT, is participating in this year’s tourism fairs in Ankara and Izmir.
To operationalize the Philippines-Turkey Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation signed in 2017, both sides convened the inaugural PH-TR Joint Working Group Meeting on Tourism Cooperation in 2019. The meeting at MOCT agreed to plan for the convening of the 2nd Joint Working Group Meeting, which is expected to discuss cooperation aimed at increasing two-way tourist arrivals, with a view towards generating employment and investment opportunities in the tourism sector of both countries. ##
