CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – Preparations have been completed at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here, including nearby accommodations and shuttle service up to Metro Manila and nearby provinces, for the big number of Filipino Overseas Workers and tourists from Hong Kong who have definite plans to visit the Philippines.

Nestor Mangio, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) chairman, said that starting next week, budget international airlines have booked tourists from Hong Kong intending to visit their relatives.

Mangio said Hong Kong-based OFWs and Chinese tourists have decided to come to the Philippines via the DMIA which is a more economical and convenient airport compared to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila.

Mangio and Victor Jose I. Luciano, CIAC president and CEO, led Clark tourism officials in conducting a two-day road show in Hong Kong recently to promote DMIA as the (most ideal) airport for OFWs and tourists intending to visit the Philippines.

During the road show, Mangio raffled free accommodations to his Lakeshore Resort in nearby Clark Freeport for OFWs intending to visit relatives in Luzon. Cebu Pacific Air also donated free air tickets and accommodations to DMIA for HK OFWs.

Mangio also invited former Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor to speak during the road show to promote DMIA.

The expected arrival via DMIA of OFWs and tourists developed after some 50 Hong Kong officials and travel agents made strong representations and presented various propaganda blitzes on the advantages of using the DMIA.

A significant number of the more than one million OFWs from Central and Northern Luzon are working in Hong Kong. The Clark airport is easier for them to reach compared to NAIA in traveling to and from Central and Northern Luzon.