The Philippine Global Explorers (PGE), a Filipino global travel community club, has been making waves at the international scene ever since borders have opened post the pandemic lockdowns. PGE U.S. West Coast Chapter Coordinator Odette Ricasa became the 1st Filipino to visit all the countries in the world back in August 2022.
During the 1st Extraordinary Travel Festival conference hosted in Yerevan, Armenia last October 14-16, PGE had the largest delegation with 9 members attending this one-of-a-kind gathering of the world’s most traveled people. Among the speakers of this event are PGE Chairman, President & Co-founder Riza Rasco who is poised to become the 2nd Filipino to visit all countries in the world after visiting her 192nd U.N. country this December. PGE Vice President & Co-founder Dondon Bales as well as the Most Travelled Filipino Odette Ricasa were also among the travel book authors panel during the conference. Melbourne-based Dondon Bales was featured in the article published by the Australian Financial Review in November about this unique event.
Right after the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Armenia, Mr. Bales flew to Manila to represent PGE as a panelist speaker at the Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) Educational Program where he spoke about slow travel in the context of the event’s theme: “Embracing Responsible Tourism: Making better places to live in and better places to visit”. Held from October 18-20, PHITEX is the biggest government-organised travel trade event in the Philippines, hosted by the Tourism Promotions Board which is the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism.
Last November 27, the NomadMania Awards, deemed as the “Oscars” of the world travellers community had two winners coming from the Philippine Global Explorers group. Luisa Yu won the Most Positive Traveller Award while Anna Harris won the Best Digital Nomad Award. There were also finalists to other categories such as Jon Opol and Kach Umandap for the Biggest Low Passport Index Travellers category, as well as Riza Rasco in the Biggest Traveller category. Riza, Odette and Dondon were also panelist presenters during the Awards ceremony, with Dondon joining the NomadMania Founder Harry Mitsidis who visited Melbourne during the virtual live stream event. The strong participation in the award ceremonies proved that Filipinos are truly part of a nation of world-class travellers.
Founded in 21st September 2021, the Philippine Global Explorers had just celebrated its 1 year anniversary with a virtual program showcasing highlights within the year which include the PGE Antarctica trip expedition in February 2022, the Sulu trip in March 2022, the Nagorno-Karabakh trip in September 2022, and Riza Rasco’s participation as a resource speaker at the Tourism Industry Board Foundation, Inc. (TIBFI) webinar on “The Traveler’s Search: Resurfacing for New Experiences with Sustainable Destination” last March 2022. PGE has close to 100 official members and just over 900 associates.
The largest in-person gathering of the most well-traveled Filipinos will happen this December 27 in Manila which will see the likes of Odette, Riza, Kach, Rambi, Dondon and other filipino world travellers in attendance to the PGE Grand Meet-up. Part of the program is the official Philippine book launch of “galà: Adventures of the Most Well-Traveled Filipinos” authored by Dondon Bales which is available in Amazon and REX bookstores.
PGE is a not-for-profit organization registered under the Philippines Security and Exchange Commission. Membership is open to people around the world with Philippine heritage and those who have visited at least 20 countries and territories. There is an active PGE chapter in Australia. To know more, visit www.philippineglobalexplorers.com.
