February 27, 2012, 10:33 PM EST
By Chong Pooi Koon
(Updates with analyst’s reaction in seventh paragraph.)
Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) — CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., Malaysia’s second-biggest bank, said fourth-quarter profit surged 30 percent to a record on increased lending as it seeks to grow its Asia-Pacific reach.
The Kuala Lumpur-based bank is in talks to buy part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc’s investment banking and securities business in the region, CIMB Chief Executive Officer Nazir Razak told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It’s simultaneously in negotiations to acquire a stake in Manila-based Bank of Commerce, he said, declining to give details on both deals.
Net income climbed to 1.13 billion ringgit ($374 million), or 15.2 sen per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 from 872.6 million ringgit, or 11.8 sen per share, a year earlier, the company said in an exchange filing. It declared a higher dividend of 10 sen per share, compared with 8 sen previously.
“I think 2012 could surprise on the upside as most of the downside risks are already quite visible,” Nazir said in a separate e-mailed statement. “The investment banking deal pipeline is good,” he told reporters.
CIMB wants to extend its regional reach after being Malaysia’s top underwriter for equity and rights offerings in the past three years. It has made acquisitions in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia in the last seven years and may be one of two remaining bidders for RBS’s Asian equities, mergers and acquisitions businesses as well as its research arm, the Financial Times reported Feb. 7, citing people it didn’t name.
Philippine Talks
The Malaysian group is in separate talks with San Miguel Corp. and other shareholders to buy a 60 percent stake in Bank of Commerce, a person with knowledge of the matter said last month. It was the 16th largest lender in the Philippines by assets as of June 30 with 122 branches, according to the county’s central bank.
“Management again reassured that both mergers and acquisitions if successful won’t be financed through equity,” UOB-Kay Hian Holdings Ltd. said in a report today. “Financing will come mostly through internal funds.”
UOB upgraded the stock to “hold” and increased its price target to 6.90 ringgit from 6.20 ringgit, still below its unchanged market price of 7.14 ringgit at 11:05 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur trading today. Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd. boosted its price target for CIMB to 7.78 ringgit from 7.69 ringgit, according to a separate broking report.
CIMB joined other Malaysian lenders Malayan Banking Bhd. and Public Bank Bhd. in posting increased earnings for the quarter as a domestic economy that expanded 5.1 percent last year helped spur demand for loans and financing. Hong Leong Bank Bhd. yesterday reported a 31 percent jump in quarterly net income, while RHB Capital Bhd. is expected to report today.
Net interest income, or revenue from borrowers after deducting interest paid to depositors, increased 7 percent to 1.76 billion ringgit in the quarter, CIMB said. Allowances for impairment losses on loans and financing grew 73 percent to 289 million ringgit, the company said.
–Editors: Barry Porter, Chan Tien Hin
To contact the reporter on this story: Chong Pooi Koon in Kuala Lumpur at pchong17@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Barry Porter in Kuala Lumpur at bporter10@bloomberg.net
http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
2012年2月24日星期五
Anxiety to repay biz loans may weaken DOLE program
by Jeremaiah M. Opiniano, OFW Journalism Consortium
PASAY CITY – A months-old program handing out business loans to returning migrant workers does not require collateral from borrowers, and a finance expert thinks borrowers might encounter uneasiness to repay these loans.
The P2 billion Reintegration Fund for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hands out loans ranging from P200,000 to P2 million to existing migrant entrepreneurs. But microfinance specialist Jun Perez is worried that required documents returning OFWs must present and frequently show might give borrowers hesitation to repay.
The context here, said the managing director of the microfinance network Seed Finance Corp., is the size of the enterprises vis-à-vis returning OFWs’ abilities to repay.
The loan range implies that borrowers run small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Meanwhile, lenders Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will require OFW borrowers to show documents related to their enterprises, such as purchase orders and titles to equipment purchased. There’s no collateral required for this loan program.
And this is where Perez’s view comes in about borrowers’ “compunction,” or a person’s strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt.
Borrowers running SMEs have to title their properties just to secure their loans, though the situation might not be applicable to those running sari-sari (small retail) stores or buy-and-sell ventures. Titling these properties entails costs, in the hope that with the titling the enterprise grows. With such growth the enterprise will now institutionalize having purchase orders (like sari-sari stores) like what usual businesses have.
Then the uneasiness comes in since running the business, producing the titles and business-related documents, and repaying the loans all come into play for the OFW borrower. In such a situation, the scheme of not requiring collateral for these SME loans “might be disadvantageous to the banks (DBP and LBP),” Perez said.
The Reintegration Fund represents the new scheme of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) to hand out livelihood loans to overseas workers. No less than President Aquino III ordered the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to roll out this program.
But years of previous livelihood programs handled by OWWA, whether handled alone or in collaboration with financial institutions such as the National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC), have histories of high non-repayment rates by OFW borrowers.
Risks
The fund has P0.5 billion each from Land Bank and DBP, as well as a guarantee amount of P1 billion from OWWA (the world’s largest migrant welfare fund whose resources come from US$25 membership fees that departing overseas workers pay on a per-contract basis).
Officials of Land Bank and DBP explained during the fund’s launch months ago that both banks will offer an interest rate of only 7.5 percent to each of the loans, payable from two to seven years.
The loans, said Land Bank’s Cressida Mendoza and DBP’s Brillo Reynes during the congress, will make up 80 percent of the total capital needed by the enterprise. There’s also a catch: The businesses to be financed by these loans “must be earning”.
That way, said Mendoza, the situation “will be mutually beneficial to the OFW and to the bank”.
NRCO director Vivian Tornea said in a DOLE release that while there’s no collateral, loan applicants must “guarantee the business enterprise… is viable and profitable —or earning, say, like P10,000 a month”.
Actually, Perez and another development finance expert, Hector de Pedro of the nonprofit Mandato Inc., think both LBP and DBP have proven track records in handing out these reintegration loans.
It’s just that the image of these banks as part of the “government” that worries both Perez and de Pedro. Government-run lending programs “fail,” de Pedro thinks, because “the (word) government is literally synonymous to the word dole out —and the approaches of some agencies do not breed entrepreneurs”.
Thus, Perez said the Reintegration Fund’s implementation “must maintain the discipline and conviction that it must be sustainable, thus must support clearly-viable or potentially viable (enterprises) with community impact”.
Not surprisingly, the Reintegration Fund leaves those OFWs planning to launch start-up enterprises by the wayside—similar to how banks offer loans to existing ventures (but not to start-ups).
The upside of this regulation by DBP and LBP is that government invests its loan resources on proven practices, and that means all figures are (easily) given. Still, new business models coming from OFW enterprise start-ups may not be developed “because there is no support,” said de Pedro.
Repayment
The issue of repayment has haunted previous livelihood programs of OWWA, the most recent of which was the loans OWWA and the NRCO issued to OFWs displaced by the global economic crisis in 2009.
Previous OWWA and NRCO programs on reintegration saw OWWA directly providing these services, especially loans (even if OWWA is not a quasi-financial institution). OWWA also has a running Livelihood Development Program for OFWs (LDPO), in coordination with the National Livelihood Development Corporation —though information is not available on the nationally-run loan program’s repayment performance.
During a press conference after the fund’s launch, Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz told the OFW Journalism Consortium that OWWA “will exert extra efforts” to monitor borrowers’ repayment of their loans. Handling loans “is not OWWA’s forte,” Cruz adds, justifying DOLE’s partnership with LandBank and DBP. The partnership sees OWWA’s share to the Reintegration Fund as a guarantee fund in case of non-repayment, Cruz told reporters during a press conference.
LDPO has its own repayment woes. For example, officials of a cooperative in central Philippines that is a conduit of LDPO loans said there is a “high” non-repayment rate among their OFW borrowers. The conduit, the Philippine Cooperative Central Fund Federation, then conducted a financial education and business assessment seminar to some of its borrowers so that the latter are told how to handle the capital they have.
For migrant civil society advocates like Carmelita Nuqui of the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), the reintegration fund’s regulations are “different from what the government says in public”. Loans for returning migrants, Nuqui says, are available “but why can’t overseas Filipino workers get them right away if these are really for them?” OFW Journalism Consortium
http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
The P2 billion Reintegration Fund for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hands out loans ranging from P200,000 to P2 million to existing migrant entrepreneurs. But microfinance specialist Jun Perez is worried that required documents returning OFWs must present and frequently show might give borrowers hesitation to repay.
The context here, said the managing director of the microfinance network Seed Finance Corp., is the size of the enterprises vis-à-vis returning OFWs’ abilities to repay.
The loan range implies that borrowers run small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Meanwhile, lenders Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will require OFW borrowers to show documents related to their enterprises, such as purchase orders and titles to equipment purchased. There’s no collateral required for this loan program.
And this is where Perez’s view comes in about borrowers’ “compunction,” or a person’s strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt.
Borrowers running SMEs have to title their properties just to secure their loans, though the situation might not be applicable to those running sari-sari (small retail) stores or buy-and-sell ventures. Titling these properties entails costs, in the hope that with the titling the enterprise grows. With such growth the enterprise will now institutionalize having purchase orders (like sari-sari stores) like what usual businesses have.
Then the uneasiness comes in since running the business, producing the titles and business-related documents, and repaying the loans all come into play for the OFW borrower. In such a situation, the scheme of not requiring collateral for these SME loans “might be disadvantageous to the banks (DBP and LBP),” Perez said.
The Reintegration Fund represents the new scheme of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) to hand out livelihood loans to overseas workers. No less than President Aquino III ordered the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to roll out this program.
But years of previous livelihood programs handled by OWWA, whether handled alone or in collaboration with financial institutions such as the National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC), have histories of high non-repayment rates by OFW borrowers.
Risks
The fund has P0.5 billion each from Land Bank and DBP, as well as a guarantee amount of P1 billion from OWWA (the world’s largest migrant welfare fund whose resources come from US$25 membership fees that departing overseas workers pay on a per-contract basis).
Officials of Land Bank and DBP explained during the fund’s launch months ago that both banks will offer an interest rate of only 7.5 percent to each of the loans, payable from two to seven years.
The loans, said Land Bank’s Cressida Mendoza and DBP’s Brillo Reynes during the congress, will make up 80 percent of the total capital needed by the enterprise. There’s also a catch: The businesses to be financed by these loans “must be earning”.
That way, said Mendoza, the situation “will be mutually beneficial to the OFW and to the bank”.
NRCO director Vivian Tornea said in a DOLE release that while there’s no collateral, loan applicants must “guarantee the business enterprise… is viable and profitable —or earning, say, like P10,000 a month”.
Actually, Perez and another development finance expert, Hector de Pedro of the nonprofit Mandato Inc., think both LBP and DBP have proven track records in handing out these reintegration loans.
It’s just that the image of these banks as part of the “government” that worries both Perez and de Pedro. Government-run lending programs “fail,” de Pedro thinks, because “the (word) government is literally synonymous to the word dole out —and the approaches of some agencies do not breed entrepreneurs”.
Thus, Perez said the Reintegration Fund’s implementation “must maintain the discipline and conviction that it must be sustainable, thus must support clearly-viable or potentially viable (enterprises) with community impact”.
Not surprisingly, the Reintegration Fund leaves those OFWs planning to launch start-up enterprises by the wayside—similar to how banks offer loans to existing ventures (but not to start-ups).
The upside of this regulation by DBP and LBP is that government invests its loan resources on proven practices, and that means all figures are (easily) given. Still, new business models coming from OFW enterprise start-ups may not be developed “because there is no support,” said de Pedro.
Repayment
The issue of repayment has haunted previous livelihood programs of OWWA, the most recent of which was the loans OWWA and the NRCO issued to OFWs displaced by the global economic crisis in 2009.
Previous OWWA and NRCO programs on reintegration saw OWWA directly providing these services, especially loans (even if OWWA is not a quasi-financial institution). OWWA also has a running Livelihood Development Program for OFWs (LDPO), in coordination with the National Livelihood Development Corporation —though information is not available on the nationally-run loan program’s repayment performance.
During a press conference after the fund’s launch, Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz told the OFW Journalism Consortium that OWWA “will exert extra efforts” to monitor borrowers’ repayment of their loans. Handling loans “is not OWWA’s forte,” Cruz adds, justifying DOLE’s partnership with LandBank and DBP. The partnership sees OWWA’s share to the Reintegration Fund as a guarantee fund in case of non-repayment, Cruz told reporters during a press conference.
LDPO has its own repayment woes. For example, officials of a cooperative in central Philippines that is a conduit of LDPO loans said there is a “high” non-repayment rate among their OFW borrowers. The conduit, the Philippine Cooperative Central Fund Federation, then conducted a financial education and business assessment seminar to some of its borrowers so that the latter are told how to handle the capital they have.
For migrant civil society advocates like Carmelita Nuqui of the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), the reintegration fund’s regulations are “different from what the government says in public”. Loans for returning migrants, Nuqui says, are available “but why can’t overseas Filipino workers get them right away if these are really for them?” OFW Journalism Consortium
http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
2012年2月21日星期二
ICC CabCom approves four ODA projects on road improvement and transportation
A February 21, 2012 press release from the National Economic and Development Authority
The Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board recently approved four road and transportation projects that will be funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the country’s development partners.
First of these projects is the Baler-Casiguran Road Improvement Project that seeks to improve road access within the province of Aurora. The project involves completion of the road’s remaining 50.95 kilometers unpaved road out of the 116.37-kilometer Baler-Casiguran Road section.
“This road improvement project will also ensure interregional connectivity between Region II and III, promote tourism, and facilitate trading, commerce, and delivery of local farm products within Aurora and to major market areas in Luzon,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr.
The road completion will link the following municipalities of Aurora: Dilasag, Casiguran, Dinalungan, Dipaculao, Ma. Aurora, Baler, and San Luis. This will also connect Cagayan Valley road, Quirino, and Isabela to the province of Aurora through the existing Dinadiawan-Maddela-Cordon interprovincial road.
The project, which the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) spearheads, is being proposed for loan financing from the Korea Economic and Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).
The second project approved by the ICC CabCom is the Samar Pacific Coastal Road, which will link the coastal towns of Northern and Eastern Samar and complements and completes the circumferential road loop for the province. The DPWH-proposed project has a total length of 27.75 kilometers.
“The Samar Pacific Coastal Road project will enhance the development of potential agricultural lands and fishing grounds of Northern and Eastern Samar and facilitate movement of goods and services through access to major arterial road links. This will push the area’s full economic potential and reduce its high poverty incidence,” Paderanga said.
The project, which is part of DPWH’s updated Public Investment Program (PIP) and the Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program (CIIP), will also be financed through Korea EDCF loan.
The third ICC CabCom-approved project is the Bridge Construction Project for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC) Development-Umiray Bridge, under the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). It covers construction of a 358-lineal meter bridge that will cross the Umiray River along the boundaries of Dingalan, Aurora and General Nakar, Quezon.
“The bridge will provide infrastructure support to agrarian reform beneficiaries and communities to help uplift their living conditions especially those in eleven barangays of Dingalan, Aurora and nineteen barangays General Nakar, Quezon,” said Paderanga.
The bridge project costs a total of P798.56 million, which will be implemented through grant assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It is one of the two bridges, along with the Bazal Bridge, under the Bridge Construction Project for Expanded ARC Development.
The fourth approved project is the Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy Efficiency Tricycle (E-Trike) Project, which will make 100,000 electricity-run tricycles to replace aging and two-stroke gasoline-fed units. The E-Trike project targets local government units (LGUs) of Metro Manila, Boracay in Aklan, Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija and Davao City.
“The Philippines would benefit in the utilization of electric vehicles to reduce the country’s dependence on price-volatile petroleum fuels. It will also reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector in Metro Manila and LGUs in the country,” he said. Carbon footprint is a measurement of the amount of greenhouse gases produced daily by individuals through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, and transportation, et cetera.
The E-Trike project, spearheaded by the Department of Energy (DOE), has an approved cost of P21.50 million that will be partially funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The ICC CabCom’s approval of the four ODA projects will be endorsed to the NEDA Board for its confirmation.
The NEDA Board, chaired by President Benigno S. Aquino III, is the country’s highest development planning and policy coordinating body. It is composed of various Cabinet Secretaries, the President of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), the Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Deputy Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The ICC, which is one of the seven interagency committees of the NEDA Board, evaluates the fiscal, monetary and balance-of-payments implications of major national projects. The ICC’s powers and functions reside in its CabCom, which is headed by the Secretary of Finance. The ICC is supported by an interagency Technical Board, with NEDA as ICC Secretariat.
neda.gov.ph
The Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board recently approved four road and transportation projects that will be funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the country’s development partners.
First of these projects is the Baler-Casiguran Road Improvement Project that seeks to improve road access within the province of Aurora. The project involves completion of the road’s remaining 50.95 kilometers unpaved road out of the 116.37-kilometer Baler-Casiguran Road section.
“This road improvement project will also ensure interregional connectivity between Region II and III, promote tourism, and facilitate trading, commerce, and delivery of local farm products within Aurora and to major market areas in Luzon,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr.
The road completion will link the following municipalities of Aurora: Dilasag, Casiguran, Dinalungan, Dipaculao, Ma. Aurora, Baler, and San Luis. This will also connect Cagayan Valley road, Quirino, and Isabela to the province of Aurora through the existing Dinadiawan-Maddela-Cordon interprovincial road.
The project, which the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) spearheads, is being proposed for loan financing from the Korea Economic and Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).
The second project approved by the ICC CabCom is the Samar Pacific Coastal Road, which will link the coastal towns of Northern and Eastern Samar and complements and completes the circumferential road loop for the province. The DPWH-proposed project has a total length of 27.75 kilometers.
“The Samar Pacific Coastal Road project will enhance the development of potential agricultural lands and fishing grounds of Northern and Eastern Samar and facilitate movement of goods and services through access to major arterial road links. This will push the area’s full economic potential and reduce its high poverty incidence,” Paderanga said.
The project, which is part of DPWH’s updated Public Investment Program (PIP) and the Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program (CIIP), will also be financed through Korea EDCF loan.
The third ICC CabCom-approved project is the Bridge Construction Project for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC) Development-Umiray Bridge, under the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). It covers construction of a 358-lineal meter bridge that will cross the Umiray River along the boundaries of Dingalan, Aurora and General Nakar, Quezon.
“The bridge will provide infrastructure support to agrarian reform beneficiaries and communities to help uplift their living conditions especially those in eleven barangays of Dingalan, Aurora and nineteen barangays General Nakar, Quezon,” said Paderanga.
The bridge project costs a total of P798.56 million, which will be implemented through grant assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It is one of the two bridges, along with the Bazal Bridge, under the Bridge Construction Project for Expanded ARC Development.
The fourth approved project is the Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy Efficiency Tricycle (E-Trike) Project, which will make 100,000 electricity-run tricycles to replace aging and two-stroke gasoline-fed units. The E-Trike project targets local government units (LGUs) of Metro Manila, Boracay in Aklan, Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija and Davao City.
“The Philippines would benefit in the utilization of electric vehicles to reduce the country’s dependence on price-volatile petroleum fuels. It will also reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector in Metro Manila and LGUs in the country,” he said. Carbon footprint is a measurement of the amount of greenhouse gases produced daily by individuals through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, and transportation, et cetera.
The E-Trike project, spearheaded by the Department of Energy (DOE), has an approved cost of P21.50 million that will be partially funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The ICC CabCom’s approval of the four ODA projects will be endorsed to the NEDA Board for its confirmation.
The NEDA Board, chaired by President Benigno S. Aquino III, is the country’s highest development planning and policy coordinating body. It is composed of various Cabinet Secretaries, the President of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), the Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Deputy Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The ICC, which is one of the seven interagency committees of the NEDA Board, evaluates the fiscal, monetary and balance-of-payments implications of major national projects. The ICC’s powers and functions reside in its CabCom, which is headed by the Secretary of Finance. The ICC is supported by an interagency Technical Board, with NEDA as ICC Secretariat.
neda.gov.ph
2011年12月30日星期五
Update: Travel & Adventure Show Explores New Territory for 2012
ROSEMONT, IL–(Marketwire -12/29/11)- The nation’s largest travel and adventure show returns to Chicago January 28-29 for its eighth consecutive year with new additions and returning favorites. Between well-known travel experts, adventurous activities, more than 120 world-class destinations on exhibit and non-stop cultural music and dance performances, guests will uncover unlimited inspiration and information to plan their next vacation.
New additions this year include appearances by travel insiders like Samantha Brown (host of multiple shows on The Travel Channel), Patricia Schultz (author of 1,000 Places To See Before You Die) and Marc Peyser (editor at Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine.) Travel Agency Partner AAA Chicago will be featuring seminars on personalized African safari tours, guided European vacations and cruising at the AAA Travel Theater. Also debuting is an audience “cook-off” hosted by Chicago native and Travel Channel star Mark DeCarlo, with the winner receiving a vacation to the Mexican Yucatan. Crowd favorites return, such as free scuba diving and rock wall climbing, along with non-stop music and dance and more than 120 exhibits of amazing destinations from every continent.
“Whether it’s a short weekend getaway to Wisconsin or traveling to Tanzania next summer, the Travel & Adventure Show brings together an amazing array of travel ideas and expert advice,” said John Golicz, CEO for Unicomm, which produces the event in five cities nationally. “Chicago is always one of our largest events, and we’re looking forward to bringing great information and entertainment to our guests.”
Must-see stops on your itinerary at the show include:
The Travel and Adventure Show is the longest-running series of consumer travel events in the U.S., with shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas and Washington D.C. The national magazine sponsor is Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel. For more information on attending or exhibiting in the event, please visit www.adventureexpo.com/Chicago or call 203-878-2577 x100.
This article is from http://tourism9.com/
New additions this year include appearances by travel insiders like Samantha Brown (host of multiple shows on The Travel Channel), Patricia Schultz (author of 1,000 Places To See Before You Die) and Marc Peyser (editor at Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine.) Travel Agency Partner AAA Chicago will be featuring seminars on personalized African safari tours, guided European vacations and cruising at the AAA Travel Theater. Also debuting is an audience “cook-off” hosted by Chicago native and Travel Channel star Mark DeCarlo, with the winner receiving a vacation to the Mexican Yucatan. Crowd favorites return, such as free scuba diving and rock wall climbing, along with non-stop music and dance and more than 120 exhibits of amazing destinations from every continent.
“Whether it’s a short weekend getaway to Wisconsin or traveling to Tanzania next summer, the Travel & Adventure Show brings together an amazing array of travel ideas and expert advice,” said John Golicz, CEO for Unicomm, which produces the event in five cities nationally. “Chicago is always one of our largest events, and we’re looking forward to bringing great information and entertainment to our guests.”
Must-see stops on your itinerary at the show include:
- Domestic and International Exhibitors — Representatives from Africa, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey and the South Pacific join domestic destinations from Alaska to West Virginia. Tour operators who can give you expert advice on countless other locales will also be on-hand. “Computer research is one thing, but there’s nothing like talking to someone face-to-face who has been where you want to go,” said Golicz.
- Fiery Foods Challenge — Local chefs representing some of the destinations you’ll find at the show will be on hand to cook traditional “hot” dishes. Audience members will sample these spicy creations and vote for their favorites, as well as take home the recipes to try them at home.
- Mark DeCarlo Interactive Cooking Class and Competition — The host of the Travel Channel show “Taste of America” and author of “A Fork In The Road” will select three lucky audience members at random to recreate a dish of Mark’s choosing — right on the spot. The winner (chosen by the audience) will win an all-inclusive Yucatan vacation!
- Scuba Do! — Scuba diving in the world’s largest mobile scuba diving pool (no matter HOW cold it is outside, this pool — all 15,000 gallons of it! — is a toasty 72 degrees, mimicking the temperatures of Bonaire in the Caribbean.) All equipment is provided, even hair dryers.
- Global Beats Stage — musical and dance performances will transport you to an exotic destination, running non-stop throughout the show
The Travel and Adventure Show is the longest-running series of consumer travel events in the U.S., with shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas and Washington D.C. The national magazine sponsor is Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel. For more information on attending or exhibiting in the event, please visit www.adventureexpo.com/Chicago or call 203-878-2577 x100.
This article is from http://tourism9.com/
Travel & Adventure Show Explores New Territory for 2012
ROSEMONT, IL–(Marketwire -12/29/11)- The nation’s largest travel and adventure show returns to Chicago January 28-29 for its eighth consecutive year with new additions and returning favorites. Between well-known travel experts, adventurous activities, more than 120 world-class destinations on exhibit and non-stop cultural music and dance performances, guests will uncover unlimited inspiration and information to plan their next vacation.
New additions this year include appearances by travel insiders like Samantha Brown (host of multiple shows on The Travel Channel), Patricia Schultz (author of 1,000 Places To See Before You Die) and Marc Peyser (editor at Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine.) Also debuting is an audience “cook-off” hosted by Chicago native and Travel Channel star Mark DeCarlo, with the winner receiving a vacation to the Mexican Yucatan. Crowd favorites return, such as free scuba diving and rock wall climbing, along with non-stop music and dance and more than 120 exhibits of amazing destinations from every continent.
“Whether it’s a short weekend getaway to Wisconsin or traveling to Tanzania next summer, the Travel & Adventure Show brings together an amazing array of travel ideas and expert advice,” said John Golicz, CEO for Unicomm, which produces the event in five cities nationally. “Chicago is always one of our largest events, and we’re looking forward to bringing great information and entertainment to our guests.”
Must-see stops on your itinerary at the show include:
The Travel and Adventure Show is the longest-running series of consumer travel events in the U.S., with shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas and Washington D.C. The national magazine sponsor is Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel. For more information on attending or exhibiting in the event, please visit www.adventureexpo.com/Chicago or call 203-878-2577 x100.
Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1842618
This article is from http://tourism9.com/
New additions this year include appearances by travel insiders like Samantha Brown (host of multiple shows on The Travel Channel), Patricia Schultz (author of 1,000 Places To See Before You Die) and Marc Peyser (editor at Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine.) Also debuting is an audience “cook-off” hosted by Chicago native and Travel Channel star Mark DeCarlo, with the winner receiving a vacation to the Mexican Yucatan. Crowd favorites return, such as free scuba diving and rock wall climbing, along with non-stop music and dance and more than 120 exhibits of amazing destinations from every continent.
“Whether it’s a short weekend getaway to Wisconsin or traveling to Tanzania next summer, the Travel & Adventure Show brings together an amazing array of travel ideas and expert advice,” said John Golicz, CEO for Unicomm, which produces the event in five cities nationally. “Chicago is always one of our largest events, and we’re looking forward to bringing great information and entertainment to our guests.”
Must-see stops on your itinerary at the show include:
- Domestic and International Exhibitors – Representatives from Africa, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey and the South Pacific join domestic destinations from Alaska to West Virginia. Tour operators who can give you expert advice on countless other locales will also be on-hand. “Computer research is one thing, but there’s nothing like talking to someone face-to-face who has been where you want to go,” said Golicz.
- Fiery Foods Challenge – Local chefs representing some of the destinations you’ll find at the show will be on hand to cook traditional “hot” dishes. Audience members will sample these spicy creations and vote for their favorites, as well as take home the recipes to try them at home.
- Mark DeCarlo Interactive Cooking Class and Competition – The host of the Travel Channel show “Taste of America” and author of “A Fork In The Road” will select three lucky audience members at random to recreate a dish of Mark’s choosing – right on the spot. The winner (chosen by the audience) will win an all-inclusive Yucatan vacation!
- Scuba Do! – Scuba diving in the world’s largest mobile scuba diving pool (no matter HOW cold it is outside, this pool – all 15,000 gallons of it! — is a toasty 72 degrees, mimicking the temperatures of Bonaire in the Caribbean.) All equipment is provided, even hair dryers.
- Global Beats Stage – musical and dance performances will transport you to an exotic destination, running non-stop throughout the show
The Travel and Adventure Show is the longest-running series of consumer travel events in the U.S., with shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas and Washington D.C. The national magazine sponsor is Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel. For more information on attending or exhibiting in the event, please visit www.adventureexpo.com/Chicago or call 203-878-2577 x100.
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