DOT crafting new tourism slogan

MANILA, Philippines — After a lawmaker hit a tourism tagline found on a bus in the United Kingdom for hinting that the country gives away its nurses, the Department of Tourism (DOT) declared it would introduce its own tourism slogan.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco yesterday said “the DOT will subsequently come out with a tourism brand for the Philippines aligned with the country brand, and enhancing the present tagline.”

She referred to the “We give the world our best. The Philippines” tagline seen on an ad on a bus in London. It featured May Parsons, a Filipina nurse based in the UK who was first in the world to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

Sen. Nancy Binay previously said that while she appreciated the latest tourism campaign, it hinted that the country wanted to sell its nurses to foreigners. “We don’t want to commodify our people,” she said.

She also called on the DOT to preserve the current tourism slogan, “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

In response, Frasco said the tagline “We give the world our best” – which came from the Office of the Presidential Advisor on Creative Communications (OPACC) headed by filmmaker Paul Soriano – is a “statement of fact.”

In line with the Marcos administration’s goal of “putting forth to the world that the Philippines has no intention of putting out nothing less than the best,” she said the tagline would become a “rallying call.”

“We have the best beaches, the best sites, the best nature destinations. And we have the best tour guides,” she said.

She made the statement as the DOT recognized tour guides and tour associations – which it regarded as the tourism industry’s frontliners amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel – in line with the agency’s 50th anniversary last Thursday.