The city of Baguio recently concluded its Baguio Tourism Week Celebration, and in this event the University of Baguio’s Home of Champions, the School of International Hospitality and Tourism Management, sent some of their best to compete in the Tour Package competition.
Called the #BreatheBaguio Tour Package Proposal Competition, participants had to come up with a tour plan that would entice, promote, and entertain potential tourists in a well executed tour of the city of pines with a focus on sustainability and environmentalism. UB sent over Jewel Reign Rillaroza and Edith Jane Chloe Elegado as one team and Maria Cassandra Ang and Raphael Basmayor as another team.
Both teams showed of their best and represented UB well as the Jewel-Edith team bagged first place and the Maria-Raphael team taking the third place in the competition’s student category. Take a look at the thoughts they had on the competition and in creating their winning entries.
What is the Tour Package Proposal Competition?
Jewel-Edith Team:
In lieu of the Tourism Month, which happens during the month of September, the Baguio Tourism Council organized activities that would focus on Tourism, and one of the competitions would be the Tour Package Proposal: Student Category where students from the different universities in the city should create a 4 Days and 3 Nights Baguio City Itinerary.
Maria-Raphael Team:
This is a competitive matchup for the tourism students in Baguio City. The competition allowed us to showcase our knowledge, skills, and wit. In addition, this competition aims to boost the students’ creativity, marketing skills, selling preposition and create a unique tour package that is composed of sustainable tourism for Baguio City in par with the theme #BreatheBaguio.
How did you come up with your proposal? What thought process did you have when coming up with your proposal?
Jewel-Edith Team:
As a lover of travelling, my partner and I thought of the expectations we usually have when travelling. We then put these thoughts into our itinerary in order to deliver something new, exciting, and something that will exceed the expectations of the target market. We thought of focusing our tour on culture as we both are culture enthusiasts. In addition, we highlighted Agri-Tourism since it is becoming a trend today for they believe that it can help contribute to eco-tourism, in order to reduce carbon emissions brought about by Tourism alone.
Aside from that, we also wanted to highlight new attractions in Baguio City that showcase the creativity of the locals in order to enlighten them as to why the city was hailed as Creative City by the UNESCO in 2017. We also made sure that all attractions and restaurants are unique and can match the theme of our tour package, for instance, we made sure that tourists get to visit Farmer’s Daughter so they can have a taste of authentic Cordilleran Cuisine. In the end, we made sure to highlight the Sustainable Development Goals that our tour package supports in order to encourage our guests to live sustainably, and to help achieve these goals for a better and a more united community.
Maria-Raphael Team:
In coming up with our proposal, we decided to come up with a theme that would encompass the concept of the tour and at the same time, our ideals as a team. Hence, we came up with L.I.F.E. which stands for Learn, Immerse, Fun, and Enjoy Local. The thought process that we had in coming up with the proposal was very goal-directed. We made sure to hit our set agendas within the timeframe that we had set. Furthermore, we believed in “Quality life begins with Quality travel.”
How did your training as a UBian SIHTM student help in this competition?
Jewel-Edith Team:
As UBians for more than 4 years, we implemented all the knowledge we gained from the Mentors of the Champions in order to successfully create our tour package. Apart from that, we also received support and never-ending guidance from our instructors as we asked for advice with every step we took.
Maria-Raphael Team:
As fourth year students of the University, we wanted to continue the legacies of our alumni and embody the spirit of professionalism. Coming from the Home of the Champions, where we inspire each other, continuous training is rigorous and challenging but it pays off. In the long run, we believe that everything that was taught to us will materialize and be utilized for our future in the industry. The training as a UBian SIHTM really helped in the competition as we were taught every aspect of tour packaging from its big picture to the miniscule details.
What was the biggest challenge you faced when coming up with your proposal?
Jewel-Edith Team:
Our biggest enemy was time. As the preparation was during examination week, we had to juggle reviewing and brainstorming about our proposal. In addition, we had little time to prepare, but that alone tested our skills when it comes to time management. At the end of the day, both of us were able to do everything we needed in a small period of time because we learned that with teamwork, everything is possible.
Maria-Raphael Team:
Honestly, the biggest challenge that we faced when coming up with the tour package proposal was time constraint. After the preliminary exams, we jumped right into creating, developing, improving, and mastering our tour package. We were given less than 4 days to do everything to the best of our abilities. Plus, the pressure within ourselves to not destroy the winning streak that our Manongs and Manangs did for our Department.
What do you think made your proposal stand out from the rest?
Jewel-Edith Team:
We made sure that our proposal is something that is not common but is greatly beneficial and will be enjoyed by our target markets. With that, we have highlighted agri-tourism in our proposal to support the locals of Baguio City when it comes to farming, milking, and beekeeping.
Not only that, but we also incorporated underrated destinations and shopping sites which showcases the culture and creativity of Baguio City. In addition, we also made sure that our tour package is a time saver as we made sure that destinations per day are near each other in order to avoid wasting too much time traveling.
In conclusion, we believe that our tour package proposal stood out from the rest because we stuck to two themes: Agri-Tourism and Culture, which can be seen from our itinerary itself, and on our tour package proposals. All of these were made possible by our mentors, our friends and families, as well as our dedication to succeed in delivering a new and refreshing experience to our chosen target audience.
Maria-Raphael Team:
Our tour proposal stood out from the rest because we focused on our theme, ideals, and most importantly, the details and design. The strength of our proposal was the effort and preparation of our team to achieve our desired output.
Having the same vision as your teammate gives you motivation to keep up and reciprocate the same energy. Additionally, the tour package that we had presented supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 11 and SDG 12. Aside from the technical aspects, we were commended for our great presenting/communication skills.
