Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano said the promotional drive, dubbed "The Philippines: Explore. Experience. Return" program, is part of the Philippine Tourism Grand Campaign for North America which aims to convince westernized second- and third-generation Filipino-Americans that the Philippines is a highly modernized tourist destination.
The campaign will be launched in September.
Durano said most Fil-Americans living in North America think that the country is still backward and are thus discouraged to visit.
"One of the obstacles for them to come here is their perception that the country is still backward and that is the mindset that we want to break," Durano told guests during the pledging ceremony held at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel yesterday.
He said the new initiative will not only boost the volume of travelers to the country but will also change their negative impressions of the Philippines.
Lucky winners will get free flight seats via Philippine Airlines (PAL), discounted hotel accommodations from the Kiok Group, a balikbayan box full of prizes from different DOT partner companies and a fully furnished condominium unit in St. Francis Towers.
The free flight campaign will be launched on June 10 during the ABS-CBN Fiesta Filipino Concert in San Francisco, California. The Internet will be used to promote the campaign.
Durano expects the participation of 50,000 Filipino-Americans.
All arrivals holding North American passports will automatically join the raffle in the monthly draws.
Abenson, American Eye Center, Avis, Globe Telecom, Jollibee Foods Corp., Kuok Group (EDSA Shangri-La, Makati Shangri-La, Shangri-La Plaza, Traders Hotel, The Shang Grand Tower Corp. for the St. Francis Towers), PAL, and the Philippine National Bank (PNB) have pledged support for the program.
DOT officials reported an increase in the volume of visitors to the Philippines. Out of 2.5 million Filipino-Americans living in the United States, at least 500,000 tourists visited the country in 2005 alone.
"Last year, we have 500,000 arrivals from North America and it is our suspicion that half of these are Filipino-Americans, these are Americans with Filipino roots," Durano said.
According to a recent Asian Institute of Management (AIM) survey, there are some 3.3 million registered Filipino-Americans worldwide.
Durano said the first batch of winners is expected to arrive in the country by October this year.
"The first batch of winners will be coming home in October, and it will be in batches of 50. We’re planning to cover the boarding, the experience inside the flight, as well as the arrivals of these 50 winners," he said.
Interested participants may log on to www.experience-philippines.ph.