Tourism promotion

A slogan cannot by itself sell a country to tourists. More so if the slogan has no appeal to potential foreign markets.

Fantastic looking locations and excellent on-the-ground experience are what travelers look for, and they decide what new place to visit by going through the internet travel sites and asking family and friends who have traveled there before.

We are fixated on having a slogan as the centerpiece of our country’s tourism campaign. It is probably because we have yet to have a Tourism secretary who actually came from the industry and has worn out shoe leather selling the country abroad. These are the people who know what the market considers important.

Inbound tour operators are the workhorses in marketing our tourism destinations. During a recent Berlin Travel Fair, I saw Jojo Clemente of Rajah Travel busily meeting with foreign tour organizers trying to sell the Philippines by offering packages to suit the taste and affordability of potential visitors.

I also saw Andi Lim, who was then from Plantation Bay, at the Berlin Travel Fair on a mission to sell this high end Mactan resort. Manny Gonzalez told me that he had also sent Efren Belarmino and a group of Plantation Bay staff to Moscow at one time in an attempt to attract the Russian tourists who would otherwise go to Bali.

I am not even sure mentioning the Philippines is an automatic positive point, given our peace and order reputation. The late Cebu Governor Lito Osmena saw this problem that led him to market Cebu merely as “An Island in the Pacific”, no mention of the Philippines, and it worked!

The other important consideration I picked up in conversations with tour specialists is the need for ease of traveling here. We have lost direct flights to Europe through the years. We were once able to travel direct to Amsterdam by KLM from Manila, and to Frankfurt by Lufthansa. No more. There is now a stop at Bangkok and that’s where most of the tourists on the flight leave the plane.

Speaking of our new slogan, it should communicate the brand’s value at a glance. “More fun…” offers more fun. The new slogan offers nothing of obvious value to a potential visitor.

It seems the new slogan is directed more at Filipinos than foreign visitors. It sounds more political too. Basta love the Philippines!

If they were trying to copy the classic – I LOVE (heart) NEW YORK, it is in the first person. A doctor friend who lived in NYC explains the New York slogan is an arrogant (brash) statement basically stating – we (New Yorkers) love New York – take it or leave it. A tourist fascinated by Broadway, the sites, and dining places in NYC may also feel a love for New York. As someone once said, “I am so New York!”

On the other hand, Love the Philippines sounds like an order. A potential foreign visitor may rightfully say, why should I?

A few netizens pointed out the slogan seems to have been copied from Barbados (Love Barbados) or the Liloan municipality’s Live Love Liloan campaign. I wonder if the agency pretested it with the potential foreign market. The proposal of the same ad agency in 2011, “Like the place. Love the people” seems better and more original.

Besides, it is time to have more destination centric campaigns rather than a national one. The Indonesians have a national campaign, Wonderful Indonesia, but they mostly focus on Bali which delivers half of Indonesia’s visitors.

The Indonesians fixed up Bali, educating the Balinese that tourism is their lifeblood, and protecting the visitors and making sure they have a good time is their duty. Easier to do this in a small island destination than in Metro Manila.

It would be easier to sell Siargao by itself. Or El Nido. Or Bohol. Or Mactan. Or Boracay. A tourist on a summer break has limited time. A week in one of those islands should be memorable if we do our homework. We have to make sure these places have the infrastructure and trained tourism workers.

Take Boracay. It should be our Bali. But the work started during the term of former Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat must continue. Proper sewage system. End the flooding of the narrow streets. Have an emergency medical facility with competent staff. Don’t scam the tourists on boat transfers. God gave us beautiful beaches. We have to work on the rest.

Before it is too late, the protection of the environment in Siargao, El Nido, and Coron should be prioritized. The LGUs there have a short-term perspective that may make these paradise locations unsustainable pretty soon. Learn from the lessons of Boracay.

The Ayala Group should start spending to promote El Nido and Sicogon. And the monopoly of Ayala’s Air Swift in El Nido should end. As one tour operator puts it: “When your equipment can no longer cope with the demand for your routes, perhaps it’s time to open access to your competitors to minimize inconveniences and irate passengers. Accessibility and convenience are vital to a sustainable tourism product.”

Given its limited budget, the Tourism department should shift to digital media. Use TikTok. An effective traditional media-based worldwide tourism promotion campaign requires big bucks… more than we can afford to spend. That is why they should just have built on the More Fun in the Philippines campaign. Now they start from scratch. We lose the familiarity and good will generated by the Fun campaign. This is how we waste our money.

We are all for a world-competitive tourism industry. As one advertising creative veteran in our e-group puts it: “The best campaigns are those that ring true. No amount of repetition can buy authenticity for what is fake and empty...”

Modernize the airports. Clean toilets. Honest taxi drivers. Courteous immigration and customs officers. Good infrastructure. Adequate medical assistance. Dependable airlines and other transport services. Peace and order. Good hotel rates. Helpful people. And, of course, the promise of fun.

We have basic homework to do before we even trumpet to the world that they should Love the Philippines.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco