DOT's Pinoy Homecoming drive lures Filipinos from US, Canada

MANILA, Philippines - “Expect Americans and Canadians with Filipino roots swarming the country in the months ahead and taking advantage of discounted airline tickets, tour packages, hotel accommodations, shopping, dining and other incentives.”

Thus said Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim as he announced the success of the Pinoy Homecoming campaign targeted at the ever-growing number of first- and second/third-generation Filipinos in the United States and Canada.

“The campaign included a roadshow undertaken as early as midyear 2010 that virtually led to President Aquino’s signing of Proclamation 181 declaring the years 2011 to 2016 as the Pinoy Homecoming years,” Lim said.

“The proclamation, signed last June 3, provides the Pinoy Homecoming campaign and our Balikbayan Program with a strong endorsement from the highest official level, rallies the support of all government agencies concerned, increases awareness and interest of overseas Filipinos worldwide, and makes tourism promotion and development one of the priority components of the national economic strategy,” Lim said.

Lim himself led the campaign roadshow in Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco in the US, and Toronto in Canada where he was joined by Senators Franklin Drilon, Edgardo Angara and Pia Cayetano, Congressmen Florencio Miraflores, Joaquin Carlos Rahman Nava and Edgar San Luis, and other officials of the Department of Tourism (DOT), its marketing arm the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), Duty Free Philippines Corp., Philippine Retirement Authority, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, National Parks Development Committee, and members of the travel trade sector.

The DOT campaign includes both industry and consumer marketing as it covers a wide spectrum of market segments in specific target areas.

The campaign also highlights and affirms the importance of North America as a major source of inbound tourists, accounting for 706,510 or 20.8 percent of the country’s total foreign visitor arrivals of some 3.5 million last year.

“That number makes North America our second biggest source of tourists after South Korea, and 60 percent of them are Filipino-Americans and Filipino-Canadians,” Lim said.

To further attract attention and interest, the Lim-led delegation conducted a series of presentations for community leaders, media, business sector, investors and members of the travel trade.

The well-attended roadshow brought the Pinoy Homecoming campaign directly to the bulk of its target markets in the US and Canada, drew the support of the media in North America, and encouraged businessmen to invest in Philippine tourism.

At the core of the campaign is a digital marketing component (www.pinoyhomecoming.com) that serves as the medium for online registration, news on the Philippines and its tourism products and services, practical balikbayan tips, calendar of events, offers and promos, directory of industry partners, and contact details of DOT’s international offices.

The campaign is supported by Globe Telecom, Philippine Airlines, Western Union and the various sectors of the tourism industry.

For more information on the campaign and balikbayan benefits, contact the Pinoy Homecoming Secretariat at 632 525-1255, 632 525-9318 local 268 or 244; fax to 632 521-6165, or e-mail at tts@dotpcvc.gov.ph.