Now on its way to recovery as arrivals from both local and international tourists indicate an upward trajectory as the travel boom continues. But mindful of the need to accelerate recovery and sustain growth, tourism advocates bat for collaborative promotional awareness through knowledge sharing and information dissemination drive through Rajah Travel’s
(TKC).

In the media briefing held on January 24, a discussion on the accomplishments through the years and the upcoming projects in the pipeline was shared. Also the unveiling of the story behind having the Tourism Knowledge Center as part of the advocacy department of Rajah Travel Corporation, Chairman Aileen C. Clemente highlighted the need to fill the gaps in the tourism industry, emphasizing the pivotal role of cooperating with various local government agencies and tourism stakeholders to help our overall tourism industry. In this way, such programs and projects to be spearheaded by the travel agency, Rajah Travel Corporation, alongside TKC could help the Department of Tourism.
 

In addition, Clemente mentioned that TKC has research and training seminars, capacity-building projects such as career fairs, and collaborative efforts with various industry stakeholders.

“On policy regulation and recommendation, [this] post-pandemic, we plan to work ourselves to look at the policies in the House of Congress, different government entities, and so on,” said Clemente.

From private to public sectors, academe, and other associations, TKC has partnered with different organizations to continue the momentum of exploring measures to address issues in the tourism industry, discuss environmental conservation, strategies to boost domestic tourism and others.

Alongside Clemente, other TKC proponents are Rolando Cañizal, former Undersecretary of the Department of Tourism; and Dr.  Ma. Cherry Lyn S. Rodolfo, Member of the Board of Advisors of Asian Institute Management, Dr. Andrew L. Tan Center for Tourism, and TKC’s Assistant General Manager, Ms. Jenny L. Gapuz. In addition, DOT’s Arlene Alipio, the OIC Director for the  Office of Industry Manpower also joined the gathering as a guest speaker.

As pioneer partners, various educational institutions were represented — 

Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Far Eastern University (FEU), Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), and Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU). 

Indeed, TKC plays a vital role as a travel and tourism hub — from travel talks, training, research studies, events, and consultancy services. TKC remains committed to supporting the development and growth of a sustainable tourism industry while fostering collaboration and innovation in its programs and initiatives. 

Interested in becoming a member? Register here.

***The Tourism Knowledge Center (TKC) is a digital one-stop shop for information and documents pertaining to travel and tourism in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It serves as a repository of wealth on Industry practices and knowledge which can be used as vital and significant source for business planning, product development, intelligence, and marketing at the enterprise and local government level.***

For more information, visit their official website at Tourism Knowledge Center or Facebook Page here. 

Rajah Travel Corporation: 

• Facebook: rajahtravel
• Instagram: rajahtravel_com
• X: rajahtravel_com 

Who would have thought that fifty years ago, the couple, Jose and Alejandra Clemente’s business idea would become a household name in the tourism country of the Philippines?

The Clemente couple decided to start their very own travel agency and named it “Rajah,” a word used to address the highest rank in the Philippine society during the pre-colonial period. Perhaps, to the younger generation, the word Rajah is not a familiar word to them. But the couple deliberately chose the name Rajah, and embrace it to be a part of their culture and values by ensuring the quality of service they commit to provide its customers, that is, with royalty and grandness!

Back in 1972, the Philippines was a “goldmine” of tourist attractions that only a few have known of. Rajah assumed its role as the government pushed for several projects to enhance the potential of the country’s tourism industry. It was at the forefront in making the Philippines known to other countries as a tourist destination as it first capitalized in inbound tourism. Its hearty and sincere efforts of preserving and promoting the Philippine culture along with the liberalization of entry of tourists into the country, eventually paved way for the business to have its big break. Rajah warmly welcomed tourists from nearby countries, mostly from Japan and Hongkong, and of course, catered to our “Balikbayans” coming from the United States.  

Needless to say, Rajah became the face of the Philippine tourism and hospitality industry, serving every guest with natural cheerfulness, warmth, sincerity and care that leave an indelible mark in the memories of those people they served.

Rajah Travel Corporation (RTC) was incorporated separately in 1992 as a BSP/IATA travel agency originally to concentrate on outbound ticketing and reservations, wholesaling of tour packages, and consolidating for airlines. From then on, Rajah Travel has served as the catalyst for Filipinos to dream of seeing the world, offering world-class destinations and premium vacations, both to the leisure and corporate market. It partnered with The Travel Corporation (TTC) and has already established world-renowned travel brands like Insight Vacations and Contiki, two of the biggest motorcoach operators in Europe, as well as Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.

Through the years, Rajah Travel marketed these brands all over the Philippines as a General Sales Agent. Furthermore, since 1995, Rajah Travel operates Carlson Wagonlit Philippines, a part of the CWT global network, managing business travel, meetings and events, serving organizations of all sizes.  

Rajah Travel continued achieving its success under the leadership of the youngest child of the Clementes, Aileen C. Clemente. Over the years it has transformed into a full-service travel company that also engages business in various travel-related activities: Leisure travel; Corporate Travel Management;  Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions (MICE) Travel, Event Management; Documentation Services; Travel Shop; Tourism Property Management; Travel  Academy, and Tourism Knowledge Center.  

Stewardship 

At the heart of Rajah, is the core value of stewardship. Not only displayed within the company but also in its advocacies around its different tourism projects. 

Since 2015, the Rajah Travel Corporation has been working with the Palawan Liberation Task Force to highlight the historical value of the Palawan Province and the key role it played in World War II. RTC worked with communities to uncover or rediscover lost pieces of history. After thorough research, they were able to install historical markers around the province and they have as well honored veterans and their families during its yearly ceremony. This paved the way for Rajah Travel to create tour packages for both inbound and domestic tourism that are curated to highlight these historical and cultural attractions in various provinces in the country. 

RTC also marked its presence in the global arena as the only member of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in the Philippines, actively partaking in raising awareness globally on the issues concerning the travel and tourism industry. In pursuit of the same advocacy in its own country, RTC strengthened its ties with the national and local government, as well as with the private sector including the academe, to establish the Tourism Knowledge Center which envisions to provide a wealth of data, analysis, trends and thematic investigations and study on the various sectors and issues of the tourism industry. It also ventured into providing management services for various tourism sites to assist them in the improvement of their data collection and management system. This is alongside Rajah’s commitment to promoting these sites as well to its global audience. 

Refiner’s Fire 

Rajah Travel Corporation operations like most in the tourism industry was not spared from the adverse effect of COVID in 2020.  There is no denying that many businesses have closed down because of the pandemic while others are still struggling how to keep their business afloat and hopefully recover sooner.

Needless to say, many amongst us have already thrown in the towel, seemingly stuck in the fatalistic outlook and got caught with the paralysis-analysis of how to deal with the ‘uncharted territory’ of the coronavirus pandemic. Great leaders accept the challenge and that is to take on an action plan that anticipates the worst and prepares us for it.

Truly, there’s no perfect way to handle this extraordinary situation which, by all indications, is beyond our control. But one thing that the Rajah Travel Corporation showed under the tutelage of Aileen is by refusing to embrace a defeatist attitude. Her leadership provided a strong mindset that treads against the worst-case scenario and that is what Filipino resiliency is all about.

Rajah Travel believes that the pandemic is like a refiner’s fire, for both the industry and Rajah Travel. It’s just another step of the whole process of purifying gold, allowing it to achieve its purest form under the heat of a fire. For Rajah, the past 2 years have presented an opportunity to innovate and improve further. It gave birth to the Travel Academy, a program that is first of its kind in the industry, offering online internship opportunities for tourism and hospitality management students at the comfort of their homes. RTC set up this Remote  Practicum Program to support educators and academe professionals in preparing the future leaders of the tourism industry by letting the aspirants experience the different parts and processes involved in running a travel business.  

The Golden Year Celebration 

The journey that has brought Rajah into its 50^th year is both humbling and something to be proud of. Nevertheless, despite the continued threat of COVID 19, this occasion proved to be worth celebrating because of the collective efforts of Rajah’s local partners, as well as the support of their loyal clients that carried them through all the adversities encountered throughout the years.  

Rajah Travel Corporation will continue to celebrate this feat and gear up to announce its lineup of activities In the celebratory kick-off, big discounts that will welcome the coming of the year of the tiger. Games and raffles are something to watch out for on their social media platforms throughout the year. The game mechanics and the prizes will surely bring out the fun side and competitive side of everyone, even while at home. 

Moreover, Rajah Travel, having been able to adapt already to the new normal and technology of conducting online events, will likewise resume its product launches and its very own annual selling event, the Destination Finder (DF). DF will be ran running for the 3^rd time, on the 3^rd quarter of the year 2022, to help guests plan their trips for the following year, 2023.  

In all of these, is a clear affirmation and commitment that Rajah will continue thriving and will continue to be with you on your journey as you have been with them through the years. 

To know more about Rajah and to get assistance for your dream travel with your family or loved loved ones, please contact visit Rajah Travel website at www.rajahtravel.com, email marketing@rajahtravel.com. You may also follow Rajah Travel Facebook Page Facebook.com/rajahtravel and Instagram @rajahtravel_com

Japan Airlines (JAL) was established in 1951 and is the flag carrier airline of Japan. It’s main hubs are located in Tokyo – at the Narita International Airport and  Haneda Airport, and Osaka – at the Kansai International Airport and Itami Airport. JAL takes pride in having carried over 52 million passengers and over 1.1 million tons of cargo and mail. 

While, the American Airlines (AA) is a major airline of the United States of America and dubbed as the world’s largest airline in terms of fleet size, revenue, scheduled passengers carried, scheduled passenger-kilometers flown, and number of destinations served. Its main hub is at Dallas, Texas.

Given their established reputation in airline industry, the partnership between Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines (AA) would really provide not just convenience to passengers, but also exciting deals that are hard to refuse.

This excellent network between the two giant airlines paves the way for smoother connecting flights to different cities in the USA, Caribbean and Asia for their passengers by leveraging their partnerships and customer experience best practices to facilitate hassle-free transfers to various destinations between Asia and the Americas, and vice versa.

One example is the transit from Boston to 18 cities located on the East Coast of America, where international passengers can save time queuing in the immigration and security checks at Boston’s Logan Airport and enjoy a smoother travel experience. For Japanese passengers, they provide a Japanese transfer map to make the transit simple and easy to understand.

The usually tedious and stressful transfer in the airport that would require a passenger to allot about 2-3 hours allowance, would only take around 85 minutes to transfer from JAL to American’s North American flights and this makes connections ever smoother and stress-free.

This strategic alliance between Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines (AA) is true to its form and very essence. Now, passengers can combine JAL flights with those of American Airlines’ itineraries such as departing Japan via a JAL flight, and returning on an American Airlines flight.

In Manila, JAL flights to Narita depart from Terminal 1, while American Airlines (AA) has an offline service from Manila allowing smooth connections! This is made possible by the increase in the number of AA North American flights connecting to JAL Narita flights in two hours or less. Additionally, the operating schedule for AA domestic flights departing and arriving in Los Angeles has been adjusted to reduce the wait times, allowing for speedier connections between American Airlines and Japan Airlines flights.

Both Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines (AA) are members of ONEWORLD, an alliance of 13 of the world’s leading airlines, committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience across more than 1,000 destinations in almost 160 countries and regions worldwide.

Also present during the media briefing of Stronger Ties in the Skies were Mary Joy Serrano, Manager of Passenger Sales of Japan Airlines (JAL) and representatives from Rajah Travel Corporation.

To know more about how to take advantage of the exciting benefits from the “Stronger Ties in the Skies” by Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines (AA), visit http://www.ph.jal.co.jp/ and https://www.aa.com

]]> https://thephilbiznews.com/2018/10/31/japan-airlines-and-american-airlines-forge-alliance-via-stronger-ties-in-the-skies/feed/ 0