Paris is one place I should see before I turn 50, I have been told by quite a few people — those who have traveled the world, those who love love and even more so by those whose lives revolve around fashion.
Indeed, one must travel to whatever place in the world that might make us learn more about life — how important it is, what we truly value and how good it really is to be Pinoy.
“France is a trendsetter for the rest of the European countries nearby,” said Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, head of the Philippine delegation that participated in Top Resa, the top travel trade and tourism forum in France. “And, it is just great that we have become big to the French recently.”
As a way of celebrating its 30th, Top Resa was held in Paris. The event has been held in Deauville, France for the last 29 years.
“The first time we participated in Top Resa in Deauville, we had only four industry partners,” said Venus Tan, DOT tourism attaché based in Frankfurt. “Now we have an unprecedented number of participants from the private sector, there are 14 companies.”
One of the factors that DOT attributes to France’s renewal of its friendship with the Philippines is the shooting of popular TV show Koh Lanta (Survivor) in the country for two consecutive seasons. That was a first as far as the TV series is concerned, because Koh Lanta has never returned to any country where it has been filmed.
But after the Koh Lanta–Palawan series was over, Koh Lanta had to come back to the Philippines.
“What we explained to Secretary Durano is that we have to find something different from what we did last year and what we will do this year,” said Koh Lanta producer Thierry Graff. “The promise we made to our TV station was that it will be fantastic because it will be completely different from what we did in Palawan. It will be a totally different picture from that. This is why the introduction of our show is like fireworks of Philippine postcards of the different places in the Philippines like Bohol, Banawe, Taal Lake, Mt. Mayon. And that is what we would like to show in the opening of our show.”
Thierry says that he went scouting in three other countries but when he got back to the Philippines he visited Caramoan. This led to Koh Lanta-Caramoan.
Koh Lanta kept its promise. The opening scenes of the show are fantastic footages of the many wonders the Philippines has.
And it took that much to get the French market interested in the Philippines again. At the same time, the DOT continued its marketing efforts in the country with the hope of getting the Philippines back into the French mind — and making the French start coming to our 7,101 islands.
“The French have become more receptive of the Philippines as a destination for many reasons,” said Marilen Yaptangco, president of Baron Travel Corporation. “There was the lifting of most of the red warning signals about not to sell various areas of the Philippines — this development made the largest tour operators decide to put the Philippines back in their brochures.”
Yaptangco pointed out that the marketing efforts of the DOT and the work that the private sector is doing with them has started to pay off.
Baron Travel has been participating in Top Resa since 2006. Yaptangco said that when the Philippines first joined Top Resa, the reception was “lukewarm.”
Both the DOT and private sector know that patience is one virtue that they must have a lot of. It takes a year or even two before any results can be seen after a tour operator or a property joins a travel mart. And the experience with France is no different.
In 2006, 15,492 French tourists visited the Philippines. In 2007, 19,273 came — a growth of 24.4 percent.
From January to July 2008, arrival figures have continued to post a double-digit increase or a 26.1 percent growth. In January to July 2007, the figure was 11,131. From January to July this year, the figure is 14,035.
Needless to say, the DOT is happy that the French outbound market is one of the fastest-growing long-haul markets to the Philippines. France was once regarded as a difficult market to pursue, but persistence and a sound marketing strategy is what has changed all of that.
The Big Two
One of the biggest validations for the Philippines is that the two biggest tour operators in France are carrying the Philippines for the first time in their brochures. These are Jetours and Vacances Transat.
“I went to the Philippines last April because there was a fam trip organized by DOT,” said Patrick Gardin, product manager of Vancaces Transat. “When I came back from the Philippines I told my company that we should really start the traffic to the Philippines. I showed them some pictures and because of Koh Lanta, they said okay, let us do it, and so I made a tour.”
Gardin said that what Vacances Transat sees as an advantage for the Philippines is that there are many places to see, a rich culture to learn about and many historic places to visit.
“The Philippines is a safe destination,” added Gardin. “It is a perfect destination because it has everything. When the French go on long trips they want to return to France with the feeling that they saw the different facets of the country.”
And next year, the Philippines has been chosen as the eco-tourism destination of the year in Salon Destinations Nature (Les Salon des Randonnees). It is a nature show yearly held in Paris, and this is the first time that a country from Southeast Asia has been picked.
The announcement was well received by Secretary Durano, who continues to push eco-tourism development in the country. Tan added that last year, there were 40 tour operators selling the Philippines in France. This year, this number has grown to 55 tour operators.
It is no wonder that Secretary Durano never seems to tire of promoting the country. “The fact is that we are big shots now, the fact that they are after us, the fact that we’ve succeeded in building our presence here and in the rest of Europe, makes it more exciting to promote the country,” said Durano. ”It just opens up more opportunities for the Philippines. It would be tiring if we did not move forward, but so many good things are happening for us in the French market.”