Puerto Princesa Businesses Boost MSMEs, Tourism Resilience Efforts with Help of PLDT and Smart

Tourism in Palawan is on the path to recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic and onslaught of Typhoon “Odette” in 2021. In 2023, tourist arrivals in Puerto Princesa City climbed to 556,608—a significant increase from 2021’s 32,170, and nearly half of 2019’s 1.18 million.PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc. are supporting tourism resilience efforts in the province by enhancing business opportunities with the help of technology. PLDT Enterprise, the corporate unit of PLDT, in collaboration with the Puerto Princesa Tourism Council, recently organized a forum at Costa Palawan Resort attended by hotel and resort owners, travel operators, hospitality business workers, students, and other tourism stakeholders in the city. The event themed, “#FurtherTogether: Rebuilding Tourism in Puerto Princesa,” featured learning sessions on tourism destination resilience led by former Cebu Tourism Head Boboi Costas and lectures on the use of e-commerce platforms for micro, small, medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to widen their reach. The session also highlighted the significance of the Smart Messaging Suite as a go-to market strategy to reach customers for MSMEs in the region. “Tourism brings employment opportunities, creates revenue for the local government, and stimulates economic growth for the region. Our goal is to bring our products and solutions to SMEs here in [...]