Love campaign aims to make Philippines a ‘tourism powerhouse’

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) hopes the new “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign could help achieve its goal of making the Philippines a “tourism powerhouse in Asia.”

The goal is President Marcos’ “vision for the country,” wherein he declared tourism would become a priority of his administration in achieving national economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said in a statement.

The President has approved the DOT’s National Tourism Development Plan for the years 2023 to 2028, which detailed the plans to develop the tourism industry through more infrastructure, promotion such as caravans, employment generation, connectivity and equal opportunities for all sectors.

The DOT added that it came up with the new campaign and slogan following the result of a survey done by the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization among its member countries.

It revealed “market repositioning and rebranding strategies are among the priorities identified after the pandemic,” the DOT noted.

During the launch last June 27, Doyle, Dane and Bernbach Philippines – who apparently won the bid for the new DOT tourism campaign worth P49 million – revealed growths in tourism spending in the world in 2022. For instance, there was an 84 percent increase in tourism spending, as well as “more than two times over” growth in tourism spending in the Southeast Asia region.

Thailand received the most tourists compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.

With the “enhanced” tourism campaign and slogan, DOT Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco declared “the time has come” for the Philippines to be “reintroduced” to the world.

“If we are to compete with our neighbors in our effort as well as to partner with them for Asia to become a powerhouse tourism region in the world, the time has come for us to add to the value proposition of the Philippines by telling the world how much more we have to offer,” she said.

The Love the Philippines tourism campaign, she added, would promote the Philippines “beyond fun” – indirectly referring to the previous campaign “It’s more fun in the Philippines” – but would “highlight that the Philippines is a destination with a rich and diverse Filipino culture that can offer substantial, immersive and purposeful experiences, perfectly matched with love and warm hospitality of the Filipino people.”

Faith tourism

Meanwhile, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) threw his support for the Love the Philippines campaign, and hoped the DOT would consider promoting the country’s so-called “faith tourism.”

According to CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs Executive Secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano, faith tourism could show local and foreign tourists, particularly pilgrims, the “depth” of the Catholic faith in the country, shown by churches and pilgrimage sites that date back to the Spanish colonial period.

“What we see as an instrument for faith tourism are our beautiful churches which are also pilgrimage sites that are very exquisite, exotic and are a reflection of the Filipinos’ religiosity. Anyone can come here, whether local or foreign pilgrims,” he said in an interview over Radio Veritas.