MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines expects to hit its seven million foreign arrivals target with the help of a referral incentive program, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said.
Over the weekend, the DOT formally launched its Bring Home a Friend (BHAF) program, which aims to tap the network of Filipinos living abroad to invite their foreign friends to visit the Philippines.
The BHAF program was originally introduced in 1994 and ran until 1997.
“In order to entice overseas Filipinos to participate in the program, we will appeal to their sense of nationalism and love of country while providing them with the chance to win attractive prizes in the raffle draws for the sponsoring overseas Filipinos and their invitees/foreign friends,” the DOT said.
Among the major prizes to be raffled off to Filipino sponsors include a condominium from Megaworld Corp., a brand-new Toyota Vios, and a P200,000 gift certificate at Duty Free Philippines.
In addition, foreign guests can win round-trip international flight tickets and tour packages to Palawan, Cebu and Davao.
Filipinos residing in the Philippines and expatriates based in the country are also eligible to join the contest.
DOT assistant secretary and spokesperson Frederick Alegre said the incentive program would help the department reach its tourist arrivals target for this year.
“It’s something that will trigger more attention and the people themselves will help us make it happen,” Alegre added.
As of the first seven months of 2017, foreign arrivals hit the 3.93 million mark, an 11 percent rise from 3.54 million posted in the same period last year.
Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo said the program expects to attract a lot of arrivals from the US, given the large base of overseas Filipinos residing there.
Based on 2015 figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs, there are 9.1 million overseas Filipinos, with more than three million in the US alone.
The Middle East is also a potential market with two million overseas Filipinos. Other countries with a big number of Filipinos are Malaysia, Japan, China, Italy and Australia.
“These overseas Filipinos have a deep sense of patriotism that can be explored if tapped to be Ambassadors of Goodwill,” the DOT said.
In addition, the tourism department said word-of-mouth plays a very big role in motivating tourists to visit the Philippines.
Based on the DOT 2016 Visitors Sample Survey, 51.80 percent of tourists visit the Philippines upon their friend’s recommendation, while 14.10 percent have friends or relatives in the country.