Four months after it opened, Cebu’s OTOP store - Tindahang Pinoy, along with OTOP Stores in Clark and Davao, had its national launch on April 20, 2012 at the Bridges Town Square along Plaridel Street in Mandaue City, Cebu.
An e-marketing website for the store was also launched on the same day.
An e-marketing website for the store was also launched on the same day.
The OTOP Store - Tindahang Pinoy showcases and sells world-class Filipino made products catering to local and foreign tourists. Around 70% of products in the Tindahang Pinoy Cebu outlet are sourced from Central Visayas and 30% from other regions in the Philippines.
“Clark and Davao will also be displaying our products so it’s like an exchange. We’d like to make it a one-stop-shop for all our products in the country, including those under our One Town, One Product (OTOP) program,” said DTI 7 regional director Asteria Caberte.
The formal opening of the OTOP Store - Tindahang Pinoy in Cebu was led by Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo and his Undersecretary Merly Cruz, and witnessed by guests from the LGUs, industry partners, national government agencies and financing institutions.
The OTOP Store was originally conceptualized as a mechanism to help exporters and traders tap the influx of tourists who are looking for Philippine products in an accessible venue.
Caberte said DTI plans to set up more OTOP stores in other areas where there are large numbers of domestic and foreign travelers.
“We may set-up one store in Bohol. Any place that is rich in tourism, we will try to have a shop there. It will also depend on the capability of our private sector partners like Cebu GTH here in Cebu,” said Caberte.
The Cebu OTOP Store - Tindahang Pinoy got a subsidy of P1 million last year that helped Cebu GTH in setting-up the store at the Bridges Town Square in Mandaue City.
“Now they’re on their own and I’m happy to say that they’re already earning so much,” said Caberte.
Caberte said the OTOP Store organizers are also strengthening ties with the Department of Tourism and Travel operators to promote the store and include them in their itineraries.
The DTI has tapped the GIZ, a technical agency of the German government, for the production of a video catalog to promote the shop’s products.
The OTOP Store product catalogs and brochures that were given out to store managers for distribution to major hotels, resorts and airports in the country were designed by the Product Development and Design Center of the Philippines.
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