Pacquiao eyed as tourism poster boy

MANILA, Philippines - Boxing champion and congressman Manny Pacquiao may soon have another job -- “tourism promoter.”

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is eyeing the support of Pacquiao and other popular celebrities to encourage more Filipinos to travel around the country.

At the opening of the 18th Travel Tour Expo 2011 over the weekend, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim told reporters that the government would launch the “Pilipinas, Tara Na” campaign this summer to replace the “Tara, Biyahe Tayo” program.

Lim said the department also intends to get Charice and other Filipino singers to participate in a music video to be shown on television and social networking sites.

Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon said the DOT is seriously discussing the possibility of tapping the services of Pacquiao as tourism endorser.

The new campaign, Bengzon said, is basically a domestic calendar to help Filipinos discover the many exciting activities and events in the country’s various destinations.

The DOT said the campaign includes media promotion on local television and the revival of the “Biyahe Na” music video to be participated in by Filipino musicians willing to lend their time and talent in support of Philippine tourism.

Based on DOT data, the number of Filipinos traveling within the country has increased in recent years.

The DOT attributed the growth in domestic tourism to affordable flights and the rise of new tourist destinations.        

Lim urged the private sector to help finance the government’s campaign as part of the Aquino administration’s public-private partnership initiative.

The DOT is expecting 25 million Filipinos to travel locally this year, up from 23 million last year.

Lim said they are looking at increasing this year’s target number of foreign visitors.

The initial projection of 3.7 million tourist arrivals this year could be easily surpassed, given the 3.5 million foreign tourists who visited the Philippines last year, he said.