DOT marketing team eyes European divers

Although the Philippine government has allotted a large chunk of the overseas promotional money to the primary markets in Asia, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said it has not practically abandoned other potential markets such as Europe.

In fact DOT's international marketing team is now looking at good divers market in Europe, especially in the four countries, like Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Spain.

DOT undersecretary Edu Jarque in a press conference said, instead of throwing generic marketing campaign to capture large number of the 4.5 billion population of the European Union (EU) member countries, the Philippines is zooming in to the particular market niche, the divers.

Because of intense competition to lure the "wealthy" European travelers, Jarque said the Philippines has zeroed in to the diving world.

"We are not abandoning Europe completely, yes there is competition, but some billboards will be installed in the strategic part of Europe very soon," Jarque said.

Cebu, and some parts of the Visayas is now attracting a growing number of divers from all over the world. Some world-class resorts have partnerships with diving destinations in Cebu, Bohol, Negros, and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

According to Jarque, there is a huge potential for the Philippines to get sizeable number of diving market from Europe, as the Philippines is slowly getting name world, as one of the top diving destinations.

Earlier, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Axel Weishaupt reported that there are at least four different hotel groups in Germany that seriously looking at opening hotels in the Philippines, especially in Cebu.

This means, that the Philippines has already gotten attention from the investing community in Germany for tourism-relation projects.

Although Cebu, or the Philippines has a potential to attract "wealthy" German tourists, he said it should exert more effort to market the country as a destination in Germany, as most of the Germans are now going to Thailand, Bali (Indonesia), and Palau Island.

He mentioned that the negative publicities of the Philippines abroad has brought the country down, in terms of attracting tourists, such as bombings, among others.

Annually, the German traveling market is spending an average of 20 billion Euro for travels, he said number one destination is Thailand, next is Indonesia, the third alternative is the Philippines.

German tourists are a good combination of both luxury travelers, and backpackers.

Although Philippines is known in Germany as one of the vacation destinations in Asia, it could be better known, if marketing promotions will be intensified in their country.

The Philippine government, with a very limited budget for overseas promotions is prioritizing the Japan, Korea, china, and Taiwan as target market for promotional campaigns.