A 24-hour tour services business

BUSINESS BITS
Peter Imbong

This business can set up your trip anytime, any day according to the Department of Tourism, some four million tourists, both foreign and domestic, have explored the Philippines in the first half of 2009 alone, easily surpassing the totals in the same period during the previous two years.

And with airlines now offering affordable travel packages plus cheap accommodations catering to jet-setting business travelers and backpackers, the numbers are bound to rise.

But what happens when travel agencies and tour services have closed for the night? Seeing the opportunityto create a new service, Singapore native Darren Murali Palanisamy created the Philippines’ first 24-hour touring service in Eliz & Ethan Tour Services. [Raintree eyes own hotels and restaurants]

Started in June this year with the help of his Filipina wife Arlyn Cariño, start-up capital of only P25,000 and a staff of six, Palanisamy developed a simple concept: to give every traveler a personalized, cheap, and round-the-clock touring service in and around the Philippines.

There are no normal working hours for Palanisamy and his crew of tour guides. A business traveler coming from, for example, a 15-hour flight arrives at the international airport at three in the morning.

Instead of waiting for a travel agency to open at 10 am, he can already call Eliz & Ethan to book the day—either touring old Manila’s cobblestone streets, swimming in Boracay’s pristine beaches, or wakeboarding in Camarines Sur, all accompanied by a personal English-speaking tour guide.

For those who like a structured schedule, one can choose among their many travel packages or simply make their own based on a desired destination. But for those who prefer living on the edge and for whom money isn’t an issue, they can just call and say, “Three days and two nights to anywhere.”

Eliz & Ethan’s trained staff of locals will do the rest. They’ve also made traveling affordable by offering installment plans. A person can choose to make a 25 to 50 percent down payment and pay the remaining amount in the next two to six months.

Upon full payment, they’re ready to take the trip. “Now,” Palanisamy says, “Everyone can travel.”

Eliz & Ethan Tour Services is affiliated with several hotels in Metro Manila. With plans for expansion and franchising in the near future, Palanisamy proves that the best time to travel is, actually, any time. You may contact Eliz & Ethan Tour Services at 29 Arandia St., Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, (02) 862-4802; oceanclimber_deepocean@hotmail.com