A catchy slogan that doesn’t ‘catch’ tourists

A new tourism masterplan is now making the rounds of stakeholders. The masterplan aims to raise tourist arrivals to 12 million by 2022, doubling the target this year of six million visitors over the next six years.

It’s going to be a tough act, especially since the 2017 budget had been slashed by about 30 percent to P2.5 billion from P3.6 billion last year. More than finding ways of stretching the budget, though, the Tourism department will have to think of new ways to achieve its target.

What seems to be the first line of attack of the new Tourism officials is tweaking the current advertising slogan “It’s more Fun in the Philippines.” And, as Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo says, the invitation to come to the Philippines needs to be more defining.

Not enticing enough

This is apparently an offshoot of a Nielsen study (not the extra judicial killings under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte that rumors say have somehow made the current slogan ironical) where it was pointed out that, while the slogan is catchy, it does not entice tourists to come visit the Philippines.

According to the study, commissioned by the Tourism department under former secretary Ramon Jimenez, two of three European respondents said they liked the slogan, but unfortunately, only one in four expressed a desire to visit the Philippines.

The study, conducted over two months from March to April, also bared that three in four North American survey respondents were amused by the slogan, but less than two were moved to consider making the Philippines their next vacation destination.

Tourism officials, apparently convinced the country’s tourism banner slogan was not effective enough, has commissioned the local affiliate of advertising company McCann Worldgroup to come up with a new one, set to be unveiled in January next year in time for the Miss Universe pageant.

Amidst criticism from some sectors of the tourism industry which have expressed views the campaign slogan is “not broken,” and is, in fact, bringing in tourists during their campaign sorties, the new contract has been signed and all that’s left to do is wait for the new material to be unveiled.

More than a slogan

So what else is there to do to keep the tourist inflow healthy? Definitely, so much more than just banking on a new slogan. If we’re anticipating a doubling of tourist arrivals by 2022, the current infrastructure will need to be ramped up to take two million more visitors yearly.

Boracay, which is one of the more famous destinations of tourists, is bursting at its seams especially during the peak summer season. While an improved airport for the island will make travel more comfortable, it is still not big enough to take in more planes in the near future.

For Cebu, which is also a preferred travel destinations, it is the traffic problem exacerbated by inadequate roads and bridges that often turns off tourists from coming back — or more importantly, giving a favorable recommendation to a friend.

For new sites like Bohol, the criticism is focused on the quality of service in many of the lodgings available for tourists. The beaches and the sea may be incomparable to those of other countries, but this satisfaction is often diluted by the quality of food, accommodation, and other amenities.

Also, other local tourist sites are in a worse state where the tourism support service does not take into consideration the thousands of dollars that a tourist has already spent to come to the Philippines. High expectations are quickly doused when tourists have to deal with unreliable internet connections, unreliable power supply, not-to-standard cleanliness in facilities, and inadequate transport services.

True masterplan

The DOT needs to work harder to make a masterplan that will not just bring in more tourists, but make their stay truly enjoyable. We’re already seeing how the country’s inability to do this is affecting our ranking in the ASEAN market.

We used to attract more tourists than Indonesia and Vietnam, but these two countries have already overtaken us. If we are not able to address the true issue behind our falling competitiveness, we could find ourselves at the bottom rung in a few years time.

Focus

Instead of attracting new markets, we need to focus on areas where we are currently doing well, and improve what we have to offer to attract more. The China market is one that needs to be nurtured, and understanding what the Chinese want and need for their holiday trips is crucial.

The Entertainment City is one good example of how the Chinese are boxed into a tourism package that is tailor-fitted to their likes. From the airport, the Chinese tourist and his family is brought straight to any of the plush hotels in the area where a menu of activities is within reach.

Casino? Shopping? Cuisine? Culture? Everything can be enjoyed without needing to experience Metro Manila’s horrendous traffic.

The same goes for the Koreans, who are by far, the biggest tourist market of the Philippines. Most Korean tourists prefer our sun, sand, sea, and entertainment, but Boracay is the best destination in the Philippines so far that offers all of these.

Such is the template for similar island destinations in the country that can be offered to future Korean tourists. Let’s have good hotels sitting on the edge of great beaches, other than Boracay, that can offer the finest of Filipino hospitality.

Like the upcoming Miss Universe pageant, the Philippine government need not spend a single centavo. And just like with the Entertainment City, private sector partnership can be harnessed to build skyways that are accessible to the airport and linked directly to a total tourism destination.

Safer for tourists?

What can we do about the seeming unpopularity of the Philippines now because of the war on the streets against the thousands of drug addicts and pushers that were killed in recent months?

Not to be callous about what had happened, tourists should feel safe when visiting the Philippines, something that had been a concern a few years ago when a busload of Hong Kong tourists were caught in a tragic hostage-taking situation.

President Duterte’s tough-man tactics do have its uses. Now, if we could only persuade him to give more support to tourism to become one of the economy’s major revenue-raising pillars.

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