Pagdanganan unveils tourism plan for China

Tourism Secretary Roberto M. Pagdanganan has unveiled an aggressive tourism marketing plan for the China market as the Department of Tourism continues its positioning program to meet its projected record 2.5 million tourist arrivals this year.

Pagdanganan bared an introductory Manila-Tagaytay-Puerto Galera tour for tourists from China during the occason of the inauguration of the Philippine tourism office in Beijing where he also attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing International Tourism Expo.

The DOT chief also presided over the meeting of the Chinese tour wholesalers and the Philippine private sector to explore other areas of tourism cooperation during his July 20-21 stay in Beijing.

The Manila-Tagaytay-Puerto Galera tour package will be available for China tourists during the August-September period when there is a slack in tourism arrivals. With this, the DOT expects to drum up interest for Philippine tourism spots.

During his stay in Beijing, Pagdanganan promoted the Philippines without let-up in an interview with Asia Today of CCTV-9, a meeting with China Travel Service, one of four major and biggest wholesalers in China and in consultations with the consuls general in China.

Saying that tourism is a marketing game, Pagdanganan, a marketing czar of Unilever before going into government service, has embarked on a new marketing gameplan for the country.

In a session at the Tuesday Club, Pagdanganan crystallized his vision for the Philippines as a product to be marketed to tourists. With this, he has embarked on an innovative marketing mix to hit the DOT target of 2.5 million arrivals, to top the previous 2.2 million arrival record in 1997.

Pagdanganan said also that the DOT aims to nurture a "culture of tourism" from among Filipinos as a way of wooing visitors into the country. This is why the tourist-oriented police program was launched. – LG